Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #346784
Title: Cucurbit powdery mildew-resistant bitter gourd breeding lines reveal four races of Podosphaera xanthii in Asia

Author
item DHILLON, NARINDER - The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) - Taiwan
item SANGUANSIL, SUPANNIKA - The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) - Taiwan
item SRIMAT, SUPORNPUN - The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) - Taiwan
item SCHAFLEITNER, ROLAND - The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) - Taiwan
item MANJUNATH, B - Rasi Seeds
item AGARWAL, PARAG - Vnr Seeds
item XIANG, Q - Clover Seed Company
item MASUD, MOHAMMAD - Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
item MYINT, THAINGI - Yezin Agricultural University
item HANH, NGO - Fruit And Vegetable Research Institute
item BALATERO, CONRADO - East-West Seed International, Ltd
item SALUTAN-BAUTISTA, VENUS - East-West Seed International, Ltd
item PITRAT, MICHEL - French National Institute For Agricultural Research
item McCreight, James - Jim

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is a commercially and nutritionally important market vegetable in Asia cultivated mainly by smallholder farmers, but it is grown to a limited extent in the U.S. for the Asian market segment. Cucurbit powdery mildew (CPM) caused by Podosphaera xanthii (Px) is a nearly ubiquitous and serious fungal disease of bitter gourd. Five bitter gourd breeding were selected for resistance to CPM in Thailand and evaluated for resistance to CPM at twelve locations in five southeast Asian countries, including India and the Philippines. The multi-location tests revealed four unique CPM races on bitter gourd in these countries, and sources of resistance for breeding CPM-resistant bitter gourd cultivars. Two of the lines exhibited good yield potential in trials conducted in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

Technical Abstract: Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is a commercially and nutritionally important market vegetable in Asia cultivated mainly by smallholder farmers. Cucurbit powdery mildew (CPM) caused by Podosphaera xanthii (Px) is a nearly ubiquitous and serious fungal disease of bitter gourd. Five bitter gourd breeding lines (THMC 113, THMC 143, THMC 153, THMC 167, THMC 170) were selected at the World Vegetable Center for resistance to a local isolate of Px in Kamphaeng Saen, Thailand. We evaluated the resistance potential of these five inbred lines against local isolates of Px at 12 locations in five Asian countries. Plants were inoculated with the respective local Px isolate 15- and 30-days after transplanting, and additional Px-infected plants of the inoculated control were inter-planted throughout each test. Plants were rated 60-days after transplanting for CPM reaction using a 0 (no evidence of infection) to 5 (>75 % infection evident on individual leaves) disease severity scale. THMC 153 and THMC 167 were resistant to the local race of Px in all locations, whereas THMC 143 was observed resistant in all test locations except one in China. THMC 113 was resistant in each location except one in India. THMC 170 was susceptible in three locations in India. The multi-location tests revealed four unique Px races on bitter gourd in different Asian countries, and sources of resistance for breeding CPM-resistant bitter gourd cultivars. Six strains of Px isolated from other cucurbits (Cucumis, Cucurbita) and representing five melon CPM races were unable to infect the susceptible M. charantia accession THMC 144 and the five resistant breeding lines, indicating pathotype differences between them and an isolate of M. charantia origin typed as race 1 on melon. THMC 143 and THMC 167, which originated from India, exhibited good yield potential in trials conducted in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.