Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology

Abstract

Screening of Cucumis melo L. Cultivars from Iran for Resistance against Soil-Borne Fungal Pathogens

Mohammad Salari, Naser Panjehkeh, Zahra Nasirpoor and Javad Abkhoo

The fungi Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi), Monosporascus cannonballus (Pollack and Uecker) and
Rhizoctonia solani (Kuhn) are responsible for significant destruction and melon crop losses in the Sistan region of Iran. In this study, eighteen melon cultivars were screened for resistance to these pathogens under greenhouse conditions. The melon cultivars were grown in pots and inoculated with each pathogen individually in three different experiments. None of the tested melon cultivars was immune to all the soil-borne plant pathogenic fungi. However, two cultivars, namely ‘Sfidak khatdar’ and ‘Sfidak bekhat’ were moderately resistant to all the three fungi. A second screening was performed for resistance to these pathogens under greenhouse conditions. In the second screening, ‘Sfidak khatdar’ and ‘Sfidak bekhat’ were moderately resistant to all the three fungi. These melon cultivars are
promising sources of resistance to M. phaseolina, M. cannonballus and R. solani, and should be the preferred choice for melon grown in infested areas. This study is the first report on screening of melon cultivars in Iran for resistance to M. phaseolina, M. cannonballus and R. solani and it reports the resistance of melon cultivars to three important soil-borne plant pathogens found worldwide.