Commercial pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars, plant introduction (PI) lines, and Oregon State Univ. (OSU) breeding lines were tested for resistance to pathotype P2 (lentil strain) and pathotype P1 (type strain) of pea seedborne mosaic virus (PSbMV) and to bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) to assess the relative proportion of resistant and susceptible pea genotypes. Of the 161 commercial cultivars tested, 117 (73%) were resistant and 44 were susceptible to PSbMV-P2. Of these PSbMV-P2-resistant cultivars, 115 were tested for resistance to BYMV and all were resistant. Of the 44 PSbMV-P2-susceptible cultivars, 43 were tested for BYMV susceptibility and all were infected except two, `Quincy' and `Avon', both of which were susceptible to a BYMV isolate in another laboratory. Of 138 commercial cultivars inoculated with PSbMV-P1, all were susceptible. All PI lines and OSU breeding lines that were resistant to PSbMV-P1 were resistant also to PSbMV-P2. The high percentage of commercial cultivars resistant to PSbMV-P2 was probably attributable to the close linkage of genes sbm-2 and mo and the widespread use by breeders of BYMV-resistant `Perfection' and `Dark Skin Perfection' in developing new pea cultivars. Segregation ratios in progenies of three separate crosses between PSbMV-P2-resistant and PSbMV-P2-susceptible cultivars closely fit the expected 3 susceptible: 1 resistant ratio expected for resistance conferred by a single recessive gene.
The inheritance of resistance to neck rot, incited by Botrytis allii Munn, was studied in four crosses between resistant and susceptible bulb onion (Allium cepa L.) lines, one cross between two resistant lines, and one cross between two susceptible lines. Using tests of excised scale pieces inoculated with a spore suspension and incubated in plastic boxes at 20C for 6 days, parents, F1, F2, and backcrosses were assigned disease indices (DI) derived from infection severity scores of individual bulbs. Generation means and frequency distribution of DI indicated that inheritance was quantitative and mostly additive with a small amount of dominance for susceptibility. Estimates of gene effects using a three-parameter model also indicated that additive effects predominated, with some dominance and no epistasis. Broad-sense heritability estimates ranged from 42% to 63% in the resistant x susceptible crosses.
Narrow-sense heritabilities for reaction to chlorotic leaf distortion (CLD), incited by Fusarium lateritium Nees: Fr., were estimated in sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] by variance component analysis and parent–offspring regression. Visually rated severity reactions to CLD varied greatly among the 20 parents used to generate half-sib progeny from open-pollinated nurseries in 1990 and 1991. Progeny from each nursery were evaluated along with parents in a completely randomized design in two consecutive years. Narrow-sense heritability (h 2) estimates based on variance components were moderate on an entry mean basis at 0.61 in 1990, 0.38 in 1991, and 0.33 for the two years combined. Slightly higher, but still moderate, estimates were obtained on an individual plant basis. Narrow-sense heritability estimates using parent–offspring regression were 0.35 in 1990, 0.33 in 1991, and 0.33 for the two years combined. Predicted next-generation response was highest using a half-sib family recurrent selection among three schemes compared at a 10% selection intensity. Our data indicate –0.63 improvement in the half-sib family CLD severity rating in one breeding cycle.
Analysis of parents and progeny generations of bulb onion (Allium cepa L.) crosses among parents with differing content of soluble solids (SS) and pyruvic acid (PA) showed that SS and PA are expressed and inherited in a quantitative manner. Distribution of SS and PA in both parents and progenies covered a range of values. Generation means, frequency distributions, deviation from midparent value, and estimates of gene effects all indicated that inheritance of SS and PA was additive, except for small deviations from the additive hypothesis in several individual backcrosses. Estimates of broad-sense heritability ranged from 48% to 53% for PA and 8 % to 56 % for SS. Phenotypic correlations between PA and SS estimated from the F2 generations of two crosses, were moderate and positive (r = 0.50 and 0.42).