Assessment of Cherry Cultivars for Resistance to Leaf Spot Caused by Passalora circumscissa

Abstract

Cherry leaf spot (CLS), caused by Passalora circumscissa, is a fungal disease that can cause decreased fruit quality and yield via inconsistent ripening or premature defoliation. Germplasm resource screening is the most reliable approach to disease control for economically important crops. However, information is limited in China about the resistance of cherry cultivars to leaf spot caused by P. circumscissa. The aim of this study was to identify the resistance levels of cherry cultivars. Fifty-two cherry cultivars, including 40 Prunus avium, four Prunus pseudocerasus, and eight Prunus cerasus cultivars were collected for resistance level characterization. These specimens were then used to screen for P. circumscissa resistance through both detached leaf assays and natural field infection. Significant differences in the disease index (DI) value among test cultivars, ranging from 5.7 (resistant) to 53.7 (highly susceptible) and 6.5 (resistant) to 53.2 (highly susceptible), were observed under the controlled and field conditions respectively. Correlation coefficients between DI in pairs of years were highly significant (0.77–0.86). Although resistance rankings for cherry cultivars between screening methods were variable, the resistance levels of 52 cultivars evaluated under controlled and field condition were comparable with a correlation coefficient of 0.70 (P < 0.01). The results indicated that, across cherry cultivars, responses to CLS in the detached leaf assay corresponded well to responses under field conditions. A detached leaf assay was developed as a complementary method to facilitate the screening of cherry cultivars for resistance to leaf spot caused by P. circumscissa. Our study provides a theoretical basis for cherry disease resistance breeding and rational cultivar utilization.