Vol. 83 No: 5

Title:
Effects of root architecture on response to melon vine decline

Authors:
A. FITA, B. PICÓ, R.C.S. DIAS and F. NUEZ

pp: 616-623

Abstract:
Melon vine decline (MVD) is a complex disease for which only a few genotypes of Cucumis melo have been described as being tolerant. These genotypes were selected under different inoculum conditions, and little is known about the morphological or biochemical mechanisms of their tolerance to MVD. In order to study the tolerance mechanisms acting in different resistant sources, we conducted a comparative analysis of three tolerant (‘Doublon’, ‘Deltex’, and ‘Pat 81’) and two susceptible (‘Piel de Sapo’ and ‘Amarillo Canario’) melon cultivars. Their responses to non-infested soils, naturally infested soils, and soils artificially inoculated with the principal causal agents of MVD – Monosporascus cannonballus and Acremonium cucurbitacearum – were studied in pots in a greenhouse, and the results were compared with their field responses.We performed a combined study on lesions, root architecture, and root:vine balance. A combination of all of these traits can predict the level of MVD tolerance in infested fields better than the severity of root lesions alone. These features should be taken into account in breeding programmes for resistance to MVD.

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