RESEARCH REPORTS TGC REPORT 52, 2002
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Introgression of resistance against Mi-1-virulent Meloidogyne spp. from
Lycopersicon peruvianum into L. esculentum
1 Moretti, A., 2 Bongiovanni, M., 2 Castagnone-Sereno, P., 1 Caranta, C.
1
INRA, Genetics and Breeding of Fruits and Vegetable, Dom. St Maurice, BP94, 84143
Montfavet cedex, France. E-mail : caranta@avignon.inra.fr
2
INRA, Interactions Plantes Micro-organismes et Santé Végétale, 123 Boulevard F.
Meilland, BP 2078, 06606 Antibes cedex, France. E-mail : pca@antibes.inra.fr
Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are one of the main pathogens of
tomato crops worldwide. Up to now, all tomato cultivars with resistance to Meloidogyne
originated from a single resistant L. peruvianum interspecific F1 plant carrying the
dominant gene Mi-1 (Smith, 1944). Mi-1 is effective against M. incognita, M. arenaria
and M. javanica but there have been several reports of field or laboratory-selected
isolates from the three species able to reproduce on tomato plants with Mi-1
(Castagnone-Sereno et al., 2001). Moreover, the need for introgression of additional
resistance genes against root-knot nematodes increased with the prohibition of the
nematicide methyl bromide, from 2005 in all the European Union.
Among the resistance sources and genes against nematodes available in wild
tomato species, the Mi-3 gene from L. peruvianum family VWP2x4 is of particular
interest since it is effective against M. incognita strains virulent on Mi-1 and also confers
resistance at 32°C (Yaghoobi et al., 1995).
Seeds from the L. peruvianum family VWP2x4 homozygous for Mi-3 (based on
DNA marker NR14) were kindly provided by V. Williamson (Univ. California, Davis,
USA). This material was also homozygous for Mi-1 as indicated by the DNA marker
REX-1. Five plants VWP2x4 homozygous for both Mi-3 and Mi-1 were hybridized with L.
esculentum Momor sp. (an INRA near isogenic line in the Moneymaker type containing
the Ve, Frl and Tm-22 resistance genes and the sp gene, Laterrot, 1996) used as the
female parent. Buds were emasculated and immediately pollinated with pollen from L.
peruvianum; the same buds were pollinated at least two other times at 2-days intervals.
Fruits were harvested 30-32 days after. The 371 fruits obtained presented 0 to 3 seeds
per fruit; among them, a single one presented an immature embryo. Classical embryo
rescue technique leads to a single F1 hybrid plant (Smith, 1944).
Cuttings of the interspecific F1 hybrid were evaluated for resistance against M.
incognita, M. arenaria, M. javanica using both Mi-1-avirulent and Mi-1-virulent isolates
and also against M. hapla (not controlled by Mi-1) during two independent tests (Table
1). Resistance evaluation was performed as described in Castagnone-Sereno et al.
(2001) and the behavior of the interspecific F1 hybrid was compared with those of the L.
esculentum Saint Pierre (susceptible to Meloidogyne spp.) and Piersol (homozygous for
Mi-1).
As expected, L. esculentum Saint Pierre is highly susceptible to all strains of M.
incognita, arenaria, javanica and hapla. L. esculentum Piersol is resistant only against
M. incognita Antibes, M. arenaria Marmande and M. javanica Avignon ; this resistance
spectrum results from the presence of Mi-1. On the contrary, the Mi-1-virulent isolates
reproduce well on Piersol. Both the parental line L. peruvianum VWP2x4 and the
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