Heliconia grown as a crop has been affected by wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. This work aimed to identify genetic resistances sources, to evaluated the detection of resistance with an alternative method and to verify the effects of structural mechanisms in pathogen resistance. The genotypes evaluated were Heliconia bihai, H. psittacorum cv. Golden Torch, H. psittacorum cv. Golden Torch Adrian, H. rostrata, H. stricta Capri, H. psittacorum cv. Sassy, H. caribea, H. latispatha, H. wagneriana, H. psittacorum cv. Alan Carle, H. stricta cv. Fire Bird and H. chartacea cv. Sexy Pink. These genotypes were inoculated with a F. oxysporum f.sp. cubense isolate and the symptoms were evaluated 40 days after inoculation, based on an disease rating scale ranging from 1 to 6. The genotypes considered resistant were H. bihai, H. psittacorum cvs. Golden Torch and Golden Torch Adrian, H. rostrata, H. stricta cv. Capri, H. psittacorum cv. Sassy and H. caribea. The alternative method for resistance detection consisted in the utilization of fungal filtrades obtained after cultivation in Czapek medium. Several concentrations of filtrates were evaluated on detached of H. psittacorum cvs. Golden Torch (resistant) and Alan Carle (susceptible) cultivars. The evaluation was carried out at 48 hours of incubation, and the filtrate with concentration of 50% was the more efficient for distinction of resistance. Structural resistance mechanism was analyzed in histological sections in roots of the species inoculated and non inoculated utilized in resistance study. It was possible to verify the absence of relation of resistance in the lignification of root cells.
Fusarium oxysporum; resistant species; fungic filtrate; lignification
