Qualitative resistance to powdery mildew in hybrid sweet peas

Lathyrus odoratus L. x Lathyrus belinensis L. hybrids were produced using L. belinensis as the pollen parent, with fertile seed produced by the L. odoratus parent. The F1 hybrid plants were completely self-sterile, but produced viable seeds when backcrossed to L. odoratus. The plants produced by backcrossing resembled L. odoratus, the flower colour being purple/magenta, and were self-fertile. Both hybrid plants and those produced by back crossing to L. odoratus were resistant to Erysiphe pisi DC that causes powdery mildew in sweet peas. Continued backcrossing resulted in hybrid plants, that closely resembled the L. odoratus parent, but segregated for complete resistance/susceptibility to E. pisi, with a ratio of 2.46:1 resistant to sensitive plants. This suggests the presence of a single dominant gene that confers resistance. When resistant and sensitive plants were inoculated with E. pisi and their leaf surfaces examined, using a Scanning Electron Microscope, it was found that although spores germinated on the leaves of both resistant and sensitive plants, spores present on resistant plants collapsed shortly after germination. Possible reasons for this are discussed.