Isolate-Dependent Inheritance of Resistance Against Pseudoperonospora cubensis in Cucumber

Abstract

Six wild accessions of Cucumis sativum were evaluated for resistance against each of the 23 isolates of the downy mildew oomycete Pseudoperonospora cubensis. The isolates originated from Israel, Europe, USA, and Asia. C. sativum PI 197088 (India) and PI 330628 (Pakistan) exhibited the highest level of resistance against multiple isolates of P. cubensis. Resistance was manifested as reduced lesion number, lesion size, sporangiophores and sporangia per lesion and enhanced encasement of haustoria with callose and intensive accumulation of lignin in lesions of both Plant Introductions (PIs) compared to the susceptible C. sativum SMR-18. In the field, much smaller AUDPC (Area Under Disease Progress Curve) values were recorded in PI 197088 or PI 330628 as compared to SMR-18. Each PI was crossed with SMR-18 and offspring progeny plants were exposed to inoculation with each of several isolates of P. cubensis in growth chambers and the field during six growing seasons. F1 plants showed partial resistance. F2 plants showed multiple phenotypes ranging from highly susceptible (S) to highly resistant (R, no symptoms) including moderately resistant (MR) phenotypes. The segregation ratio between phenotypes in growth chambers ranged from 3:1 to 1:15, depending on the isolate used for inoculation, suggesting that the number of genes, dominant, partially dominant, or recessive are responsible for resistance. In the field, the segregation ratio of 1:15, 1:14:1, or 1:9:6 was observed. F2 progeny plants of the cross between the two resistant PI’s were resistant, except for a few plants that were partially susceptible, suggesting that some of the resistance genes in PI 197088 and PI 330328 are not allelic.