ABSTRACT
The objective of this work was to prospect sources of resistance to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii in wild Solanum species and hybrids to be used as potential rootstocks for cultivated Solanaceae. Twenty-three accessions of seven Solanum species, as well as 35 interspecific hybrids of two crosses, were characterized for their resistance to M. enterolobii. The experiments were conducted in a greenhouse in Brasília-DF, Brazil, in a completely randomized block design with four replications of one plant per pot. Plants were inoculated with egg masses and evaluated for the nematological variables egg mass index, galls index, number of eggs per root gram and reproduction factor. Solanum torvum, S. paludosum, and S. paniculatum presented high levels of resistance. Six among seven accessions of S. crinitum were resistant, as well as two accessions among five of S. macrocarpon, and one among three of S. sisymbriifolium. Except one, the 24 interspecific hybrids among S. stramonifolium var. inerme and S. stramonifolium, as well as five interspecific hybrids of S. stramonifolium and S. aethiopicum gr. gilo, among eleven were resistant. These results are relevant, since cultivated Solanaceae species of economic importance resistant to M. enterolobii are difficult to obtain by conventional breeding. Therefore, the identification of resistance in Solanum species compatible for grafting with cultivated species can be important to enable their use as rootstocks for disease control.
Keywords:
horticulture; root-knot nematode; solanaceae rootstocks; genetic breeding