Multiple resistance to bacterial halo blight and bacterial leaf spot in Coffea spp.

Abstract

Breeding for genetic resistance is an important method of crop disease management, due to the numerous benefits and low cost of establishment. In this study, progenies of 11 Coffea species and 16 wild C. arabica accessions were tested for their response to Pseudomonas syringae pv. garcae, the causal agent of bacterial halo blight, a widespread disease in the main coffee-producing regions of Brazil and considered a limiting factor for cultivation in pathogen-favorable areas; and also to P. syringae pv. tabaci, causal agent of bacterial leaf spot, a highly aggressive disease recently detected in Brazil. Separate experiments for each disease were carried out in a greenhouse, with artificial pathogen inoculations and ideal moisture conditions for disease development. The results showed that C. canephora, C. congensis, C. eugenioides, C. stenophylla, and C. salvatrix progenies, the wild C. arabica accessions Dilla & Alghe and Palido Viridis, and cultivar IPR 102 contain satisfactory levels of simultaneous resistance against bacterial halo blight and bacterial leaf spot. These results are useful in breeding programs for durable resistance to multiple biotic agents, providing new combinations of resistance alleles by hybridization, as well as for phytopathological studies, to identify infraspecific variability of the pathogens.