Screening of mulberry genotypes for disease resistance in different seasons to bacterial leaf spot

Abstract

Eighty two mulberry germplasm accessions were evaluated for stable resistance to Bacterial leaf spot (BLS) pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv.mori in field condition. Disease reaction was scored by 0-5 scale at 60 days after pruning. Germplasm with low disease severity, regression coefficient nearer to one and regression deviations variance nearer to zero were considered highly stable. Accordingly, Morus rotundiloba and MS-8 were observed to be stable accessions. Besides, these two accessions represented as unique entries in clustering of genotypes and showed maximum divergence. Therefore, M.rotundiloba and MS-8 may be considered as useful sources of stable resistance to bacterial leaf spot for utilization in mulberry improvement programme. The genotype Surat with maximum disease severity, regression coefficient nearer to one and regression deviations variance nearer to zero may be exploited as susceptible source in BLS resistance breeding programme.