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Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) has been found affecting melon (Cucumis melo L.) crops. At present the only known resistance in melon is controlled by a single recessive gene, nsv. The presence of nsv in a melon genotype has been correlated with the lack of necrotic lesions on the mechanically inoculated cotyledons. Thus, in a screening program for MNSV resistance, melon genotypes that developed necrotic lesions in the inoculated cotyledons were discarded. However, in this paper we show that some melon accessions mechanically inoculated with MNSV do develop local necrotic lesions, therefore showing the absence of the gene nsv, but fail to develop the systemic symptoms typical of diseased plants under the screening conditions. In some of these accessions the influence of the temperature on the development of systemic symptoms was studied. The results showed that, depending on the accession, temperatures under 25 or 20 °C enhanced the systemic development of the disease. One of the tested varieties, `Doublon', did not develop systemic symptom at any of the tested temperatures (15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, and 30 °C). In this variety, the lack of systemic symptoms was correlated to the lack of virus infection of these tissues based upon ELISA results. MNSV was not detected in the uninoculated parts of the plant, and seems to remain confined to the local lesions produced on the cotyledons following the mechanical inoculation. Restriction of viral multiplication and/or cell-to-cell movement could explain the pattern of viral distribution in this variety. This reaction was observed in the `Doublon' plants mechanically inoculated with each of five isolates of MNSV tested, including an isolate that overcomes the nsv gene resistance.
In total, 139 Cucumis melo accessions were evaluated for resistance to races 0, 1, and 2 of Fusarium oxysporum fsp. melonis and 127 accessions were evaluated for resistance to races 1 and 2 of Sphaerotheca fuliginea. In addition, seven C. melo wild relatives were also tested. Artificial inoculations were performed and plants were scored for presence or absence of symptoms. The screening revealed that sources of natural resistance to these fungi are limited. However, several sources of resistance were found in C. melo accessions. Thus, the accession `CUM-334' from Tajikistan has shown resistance to the three races of F. oxysporum fsp. melonis, behaving similarly to the melon inbred line `MR1'. Two accessions of C. melo var. conomon, `CUM-190' and `Shiroubi Okayama', from Japan, were resistant to races 0 and 1 and twelve accessions were resistant to races 0 and 2. Intra-specific variability for resistance to powdery mildew in C. melo was found to be poor. Nevertheless, six Spanish cultivars and the accessions `TGR-1551', `CUM-313', and `CUM-129' were resistant to races 1 and 2 of S. fuliginea.