INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE IN CARNATION AGAINST FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM F-SP DIANTHI RACES 1 AND 2, IN RELATION TO RESISTANCE COMPONENTS

Four carnation cultivars, Novada (resistant to races 1 and 2 of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi), Elsy (susceptible to race 1), Lena (susceptible to race 2) and Sam's Pride (susceptible to both races), were selfed and crossed. When three months old, the seedlings were inoculated via the roots or via the stems, after which wilting was recorded weekly according to a 5-point ordinal scale. Analyses were carried out on the proportions of diseased plants. For race 1 variation between the progenies could be described by means of general combining abilities only; GCA values were not affected by the inoculation method used. Also for race 2 GCAs were most important but the GCA values appeared different for the two inoculation methods. It is concluded that resistance to both races is inherited in an additive way. Indications for independently inherited root-specific resistance components (extravascular resistance) were only found with race 2. With both races, the ability to confine the pathogen at the infection site appeared the most important resistance component. Resistant progenies were also characterized by longer latent periods and lower wilting rates. Both race 1 and race 2 induced the accumulation of the phytoalexins dianthalexin and methoxydianthramide S, but race 2 induced higher amounts than race 1. The accumulation of phytoalexins was positively correlated to the resistance level of the progenies against the respective races. The progenies of the double-resistant cultivar Novada appeared to produce particularly high levels of phytoalexins.