A Rapid Technique for Multiple-race Disease Screening of Phytophthora Foliar Blight on Single Capsicum annuum L. Plants

Phytophthora blight, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora capsici Leon., is a major disease that threatens production and long-term viability of the chile pepper (Capsicum alumina L.) industry. For each phytophthora disease syndrome such as root rot, foliar blight, and stem blight separate and independent resistant systems have evolved in the host. In addition, several physiological races of the pathogen have been identified. A novel, effective, and accurate screening technique is described that allows for multiple races to be evaluated on a single plant of C. annuum. The P. capsici resistant line Criollo de Morelos-334, a susceptible cultivar, Camelot, and three New Mexico Recombinant Inbred Lines, -F, -I, -S, were used to evaluate the new technique for phytophthora foliar blight multiple-race screening. Using three P. capsici physiological races, no interaction among the physiological races was observed with this technique. This novel technique provided a rapid disease screen evaluating multiple physiological races for phytophthora foliar blight resistance in a single chile pepper plant and can assist plant breeders in selecting for disease-resistant plants.