Comparison of resistance to Fusarium spp, of glasshouse- and field-grown tuber progenies of potato

Field-grown tubers of 22 progenies of Solanum tuberosum L. generated in a crossing programme involving seven parents differing in resistance to Fusarium coeruleum Lib. ex Sacc. and F, sulphureum Schlect. (= F. sambucinum Fuckel, teleomorph Gibberella pulicaris (Fr.) Sacc.) were wound-inoculated with a cornmeal; sand culture of each pathogen. Parental genotypes were also included. The mean lesion size of each progeny was compared in 2 years of tests, as well as with published data on glasshouse-grown tubers. For F. coeruleum there was a high correlation between years as well as with the glasshouse data, but no such correlations were apparent with G. pulicaris. Furthermore, parental and GCA values, as well as progeny means and mid-parent scores, also correlated highly for F. coeruleum but not for G. pulicaris. Glasshouse-grown tubers of 11 wild Solanum spp. were also inoculated with both pathogens. Some resistance to one or other, or both, was apparent, particularly in S. chacoense.