Authors
1
Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
2
2 Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
3
Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
4
Department of Engineering of Horticultural Scince, College of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
Abstract
Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) is one of the most important viruses of cucurbit plants. In this research, the reaction of 10 cantaloupe and eight watermelon Ajili (Jabani) inbred lines was evaluated under greenhouse conditions against a WMV isolate. Results indicated that only the inbred line of cantaloupe selfing 2 showed a delay in symptoms development which attributed to low disease severity index and average absorbance in ELISA test. Therefore, it was considered as resistant inbred line to the virus. While the inbred lines 3, 5, 6 and 8 were moderately susceptible and 4, 7, 10 and 11 were susceptible to the virus. Among watermelon inbred lines, 2 and 5 were found to be susceptible, whereas other accessions did not show any disease symptoms and also their severity index were recorded to be zero. Furthermore, results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR tests showed that the later accessions are resistant to WMV. To assess the virus's impact on plant biomass, cantaloupe and watermelon inbred lines were mechanically inoculated with the WMV. Results indicated that the susceptible cantaloupes and watermelons against WMV were found to have significantly lower fresh leaves, dry stems and biomass than control plants (non-inoculated). Collectively, the cantaloupe inbred lines 1 and 2 and watermelon inbred lines 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 11 used in this study are probably resistant against WMV and can be recommended in breeding programs to establish more resistant crops.
Keywords
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