Field Screening of Melon Varieties and Lines for Multiple Race Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis

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Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 18:43-43 (article 20) 1995

T.L. Zuniga and T.A. Zitter
Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithica, NY 14853

The symptoms for Fusarium wilt were first reported from New York (1), but the disease was described and pathogenicity confirmed in 1933 from Minnesota (4). The disease has occurred sporadically in New York during the past 10 years without causing major losses. In 1992, Fusarium wilt was very severe on one farm, causing widespread collapse of the variety Saticoy. Three isolates from the affected plants were subsequently identified as a rae 1 (6)(. Isolates collected from the same farm and held in culture since 1985 were identified as race 2. With the apparent recent introduction of race 1 into New York, a study to evaluate varieties with multiple race resistance was undertaken.

In 1993, 14 entries (varieties and lines) were evaluated in a field in Washington Co. where race 1 was particularly severe in 1992. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with 14 treatments per block and four blocks in total. Data were recorded at the end of the growing season by counting the number of plants that remained alive. Pathogenicity was established by isolation of the pathogen at the end of the season.

Race 1 was recovered from the randomly sampled plants showing symptoms of Fusarium wilt. varieties or lines with 100% survival were ‘Athena’ (Rogers NK), ‘Elton’ and ‘Laro’ (Petoseed), HSR 336 (Hollar Seed) and MR-1 and CM17-187. Two lines from Timothy Ng, University of Maryland (MD 91805 and MD 8654) showed 62 and 12% survival, respectively. Other varieties evaluated with the percent survival were ‘Market Star’ (46), ‘Top Mark’ (25), ‘Perlita FR’ (8) and ‘Top Mark FR’, ‘Delicious 51’; and ‘Saticoy’ (0). Attempts to repeat this experiment in 1994 were unsuccessful because deer destroyed the entire plot.

Literature Cited

  1. Chupp, C. 1930. Fusarium wilt of muskmelon. Plant Dis. Rep. 14:160.
  2. Dutky, E.M., J.E. Kantzes, A.D. Brooks and J.G. Kantzes. 1986. A new race of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis causing wilt of muskmelons in Maryland. Phytopathology 76:563 (Abstract)
  3. Jacobson, D.J. and T.R. Gordon. 1988. Vegetative compatibility and self-incompatibility within Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis. Phytopathology 78:668-672.
  4. Leach, J.G. 1933. A destructive Fusarium wilt of muskmelons. Phytopathology 23:554-556.
  5. Martyn, R.D., W.W. Barnes, and J., Amador. 1987. Fusarium wilt (F. oxysporum f. sp. melonis race 0) of muskmelon in Texas. Plant Dis. 71:469.
  6. Zuniga, T.L. and T.A. Zitter. 1993. A new race of Fusarium oxysporum F. sp. melonis causing wilt of muskmelon in New York. Phytopathology 83:1344. (Abstract)