conference schedule and program with abstracts - Horticulture ...

P-112
Evaluation of grapevine germplasm from La Rioja for tolerance to powdery mildew
(Erisiphe necator)
M.M. Hernandez 1 , S. Song 1,2 , C. Menéndez* 1
1 Departamento de Agricultura y Alimentación. Universidad de La Rioja. Instituto de Ciencias de
la Vid y el Vino. UR-CSIC-GR., Logroño, Spain; 2 College of Enology, Northwest Agriculture &
Forestry University, China
*Corresponding author: cristina.menendez@unirioja.es
Powdery mildew is caused by the plant pathogenic fungus Erisiphe necator and is one of the
most important and destructive diseases of grapevine in many countries of the world, including
Spain. Development and use of tolerant varieties is one of the most important and
environmentally sound strategies for management of this disease. Susceptibility or tolerance to
powdery mildew infection were evaluated on shoots in 49 accessions of the germplasm
collection from an experimental field at La Rioja University (Spain). The natural infections were
scored during 2008-2009 using a six point scale. No pesticides were used in the experimental
sites, and a high severity of infection was observed, with all accessions infected by the fungus
but showing differences in the severity levels. The more tolerant were R-14, SO-63, CI-78 and
the more susceptible accessions were H-29, AR-43, B-47 and AB-100. The results were
promising as they may be used as a tolerant genetic sources for breeding to manage the disease.
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