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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Sunflower and Plant Biology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140939
Title: PRELIMINARY RESULTS REGARDING THE INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE TO SCLEROTINIA HEAD ROT IN SUNFLOWER

Author
item VAN BECELAERE, GUILLERMO - NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIV.
item Miller, Jerry

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2002
Publication Date: 11/1/2002
Citation: VAN BECELAERE, G., MILLER, J.F. PRELIMINARY RESULTS REGARDING THE INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE TO SCLEROTINIA HEAD ROT IN SUNFLOWER. 2002. CD-ROM. CROP SCIENCE ANNUAL MEETING ABSTRACTS.

Interpretive Summary: Head rot, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, is a major disease in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). This study was conducted to determine the general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects of different sunflower inbred lines for resistance to head rot. Two experiments, one with oilseed hybrids and the other with confection hybrids, were conducted under an irrigation misting system. Plants were inoculated with a suspension of ascospores. Variables measured were incidence (%) and severity index (0-5). The GCA of the males and the females were significant in the oilseed experiment, the effect of the females being more important. Additive gene effects were relatively more important than nonadditive gene effects. However, significant SCA effects were observed. In the confection experiment, only the GCA of the females was significant. These results suggest that resistance is needed both in the female and the male parents, and that the lines should be tested in specific hybrid combinations.

Technical Abstract: Head rot, caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, is a major disease in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). This study was conducted to determine the general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects of different sunflower inbred lines for resistance to head rot. Two experiments, one with oilseed hybrids and the other with confection hybrids, were conducted under an irrigation misting system. Plants were inoculated with a suspension of ascospores. Variables measured were incidence (%) and severity index (0-5). The GCA of the males and the females were significant in the oilseed experiment, the effect of the females being more important. Additive gene effects were relatively more important than nonadditive gene effects. However, significant SCA effects were observed. In the confection experiment, only the GCA of the females was significant. These results suggest that resistance is needed both in the female and the male parents, and that the lines should be tested in specific hybrid combinations.