Resistance in field pea (Pisum sativum) to the black spot disease complex in Western Australia

Abstract

Black spot (also referred as Ascochyta blight, Ascochyta foot rot and black stem; Ascochyta leaf and pod spot) is a devastating disease of field pea (Pisum sativum) caused by one or more pathogenic fungi including Didymella pinodes, Ascochyta pisi, Phoma pinodella and P. koolunga. Development of resistant germplasm has been slow because of the low level of resistance found in the available germplasm, poor reliability of screening methods and the polygenic nature of inheritance. Field studies, undertaken to assess F8 and F9 derived lines for resistance against the black spot complex, confirmed that some lines developed in the Australian breeding program show improvement in resistance over commercial cultivars. Disease scores across test lines ranged from 5.33 to 7.82 (0-9 scale where 0=no disease symptoms, and 9>=90 % leaf area affected) and from 5.37 to 8 in 2012 and 2013, respectively. In 2012, the eight most resistant lines had scores 5.33 to 6, with OZP1207 the most resistant line. In 2012, forty three lines were significantly more resistant (disease score<=6.67) than the susceptible standard, Helena (7.82), 14 lines were not significantly different to the most resistant commercial cultivar, Parafield (6.33), and 27 lines were significantly more resistant than PBA Percy (7.67). In 2013, WAPEA2211 was clearly the most resistant line (5.37) followed by a group of seven lines with slightly less resistance scored at 6. Use of these lines in breeding will further enhance resistance in commercial cultivars, particularly by inter-crossing among the more genetically diverse lines to accumulate minor genes for resistance. While there was no overall relationship between disease scores in 2012 and 2013 (R²=0.029), presumably due to the highly variable pathogen composition of the black spot complex at the screening site and across seasons in Western Australia, a few lines, such as WAPEA2211, 04H349P-05HO2005, 06H109P-9 and 06H459P-1, showed significant resistance in both years, appear to have resistance to multiple pathogens in the black spot complex, and are of particular significance.