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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mayaguez, Puerto Rico » Tropical Crops and Germplasm Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #182462
Title: RESPONSE TO ANTHRACNOSE INFECTION FOR A SUBSET OF ETHIOPIAN SORGHUM GERMPLASM

Author
item Erpelding, John
item Prom, Louis

Submitted to: Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/13/2009
Publication Date: 12/1/2009
Citation: Erpelding, J.E., Prom, L.K. 2009. Response to anthracnose infection for a subset of ethiopian sorghum germplasm. Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico. 93(3-4):195-206.

Interpretive Summary: Ethiopia is one of the centers of diversity for sorghum. More than 7,000 seed samples (germplasm accessions) have been collected from this region of Africa to preserve the rich source of the genetic diversity and are maintained by the US National Plant Germplasm System. Sorghum germplasm from Ethiopia may also be an important source of diversity for disease resistance. A subset of 48 accessions was selected and evaluated for disease resistance to sorghum anthracnose. Nearly 50% of the accessions were resistant to the fungal disease when evaluated during the dry and wet growing seasons in Isabela, Puerto Rico. The anthracnose resistant accessions may offer new sources of resistance for sorghum improvement.

Technical Abstract: Forty-two accessions were randomly selected from the Ethiopian sorghum collection maintained by the USDA, ARS National Plant Germplasm System and evaluated for anthracnose disease response during the 2004 dry and wet growing seasons in Isabela, Puerto Rico. A resistant response was observed for 20 accessions with 13 accessions susceptible to the disease for the two growing seasons. Nine accessions showed variation in infection response within and between growing seasons. Approximately 80% of the accessions showed a similar disease response for the two growing seasons. This would suggest that large-scale evaluations could be conducted throughout the year in Puerto Rico to screen the more than 7,000 Ethiopian accessions in the collection for the identification of anthracnose resistant germplasm.