Genetic Analysis of Meloidogyne arenaria Race 1 Resistance in Tobacco.

Inheritance of resistance to the peanut root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria (Neal) Chitwood race 1) was investigated in the flue-cured tobacco cv. Speight G 28 and the breeding lines 81-RL-2K and SA 1214. The genetic relationship of this resistance in Speight G 28 to the resistance of the same cultivar to races 1 and 3 of M. incognita was also studied. Crosses were made between the root-knot nematode-susceptible flue-cured tobacco cv. NC 2326 and the three resistant genotypes. Parental, F1, F2 and backcross generations (BC1P1, BC1P2) were grown for each cross in randomized complete block designs with five replications in the greenhouse. Data indicated that resistance to M. arenaria race 1 in the three resistance sources is conditioned by a single dominant gene, but this resistance is partial compared to that for M. incognita races 1 and 3. Further, resistance to races 1 and 3 of M. incognita and resistance to M. arenaria race 1 in cv. Speight G 28 appear to be controlled by the same gene. These results, combined with the absence of segregation in the F2 populations of the crosses between resistant parents 81-RL-2K × SA 1214, 81-RL-2K × Speight G 28, and SA 1214 × Speight G 28, suggest allelism of resistance among these genotypes.