Novel source of resistance and differential reactions on chilli fruit infected by Colletotrichum capsici

Pre- and post-harvest anthracnose fruit rot is a main disease of chilli (Capsicum spp.). Among Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose, C. capsici is the most common in India. A total of 41 Capsicum genotypes were screened for anthracnose resistance under field conditions. Bhut Jolokia, PBC-380 and IC-383072 were found symptomless and some marginally cultivated lines and other crosses were observed to be resistant. In vitro inoculation of the selected set of genotypes with C. capsici revealed that 9 days after inoculation was appropriate to record observations on disease resistance. Screening the 41 genotypes for resistance to anthracnose under in vitro conditions revealed four symptomless and 11 highly resistant lines. Comparing field and in vitro evaluations, nine lines (BS-35, BS-20, BS-28, Punjab Lal, Bhut Jolokia, Taiwan-2, IC-383072, Pant C-1 and Lankamura Collection) showed consistent resistance in field as well as in vitro to the disease. The study on differential reactions on fruits of 16 genotypes inoculated by the two C. capsici isolates (Ccf-Varanasi and Ccc2-Raichur) clearly showed that these isolates are two different pathotypes. A detailed analysis on prevalent strains in the target region would be needed to initiate resistance breeding. Nevertheless, newly identified resistant sources offer better choices for the ongoing anthracnose resistance breeding program.