Open Access

ARTICLE

Variation for Resistance to Alternaria tenuissima and Potential Structural Mechanism among Different Cultivars of Chrysanthemum morifolium

Huiyun Li, Ye Liu, Sumei Chen, Jiafu Jiang, Aiping Song, Weimin Fang, Fadi Chen^*

State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Key Laboratory of Landscaping, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

* Corresponding Author: Fadi Chen. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2020, 89(4), 851-859. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2020.012361

Received 27 June 2020; Accepted 23 July 2020; Issue published 09 November 2020

Abstract

Black spot disease, caused by the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria tenuissima (Fr.) Wiltsh (A. tenuissima), is considered a highly destructive disease of Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.). A set of 17 accessions of commercial chrysanthemum cultivars were evaluated for resistance to A. tenuissima by seedling artificial inoculation. It was found that the reaction of the accessions to artificial inoculation ranged from resistant to highly susceptible. Five varieties of chrysanthemum (‘Zhongshan Taogui’, ‘Jinba’, ‘Zhongshan Jinguan’, ‘Jinling Wanhuang’ and ‘Jinling Yangguang’) were resistant; two varieties of chrysanthemum (‘Zhongshan Xinggui’ and ‘Zhongshan Jinkui’) were moderately resistant; and others were susceptible to various degrees, four varieties of chrysanthemum (‘Zhongshan Zihe’, ‘Zhongshan Jiuhong’, ‘Zaoyihong’ and ‘Jinling Jiaohuang’) were highly susceptible, especially. Some leaf morphological features of two resistant and two highly susceptible cultivars were further researched. Trichome density, length, height, gland size and stomata density were found to be associated with plant passive resistance. Resistant varieties that were identified in present study will be promising germplasm for exploitation of breeding programmes aimed at developing A. tenuissima-resistant cultivars and increasing genetic diversity.

---

Keywords

---