Yun-Chan Huh

Evaluation of Resistance to Colletotrichum acutatum in Pepper Genetic Resources

Resistance of pepper (Capsicum spp.) to anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum) was evaluated during regeneration of Capsicum spp. in National Agrobiodiversity Center. Disease severity of 896 pepper accessions (430 accessions of C. annuum, 219 accessions of C. baccatum, 14 accessions of C. chacoense, 153 accessions of C. chinense, 70 accessions of C. frutescens, 2 accessions of C. pubescens, and unidentified 8 accessions) was investigated at 14 days after inoculation in 28 C humid chamber. Forty nine accessions of pepper germplasm were resistant to C. acutatum. Among them, nine accessions were highly resistant to C. acutatum without wounding spray inoculation. Four accessions belonged to the species C. baccatum, one accession to C. chacoense, and four accessions to C. frutescens. Forty two resistant candidate accessions were inoculated with pin-prick wounding using a syringe needle. Five accessions were resistant as a less than 3% of disease severity to C. acutatum with wounding inoculation 5 days after inoculation. All resistant accessions were C. baccatum. These five pepper germplasm might be used as breeding resources for the anthracnose resistance breeding program.