Genetic control of immunity to turnip mosaic virus in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus ssp. oleifera) and the effect of foreign isolates of the virus

Immunity to a UK isolate (UK 1) of turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) was studied in eight lines of oilseed rape selected from cv Rafal. Six of these lines were uniformly immune and two segregated. Segregation ratios in the F₂ generation of reciprocal crosses between two uniformly immune lines and two uniformly susceptible cultivars (Mikado and Yeoman) showed that immunity was controlled by a dominant nuclear allele. The immunity was confirmed by the inability to detect virus particles in mechanically inoculated plants by back inoculations, ELISA and ISEM tests. Plants were immune to repeated inoculations and aphid transmissions. The immunity was effective against one other UK isolate and two German isolates of TuMV. Another UK isolate (UK 3) and a Greek isolate partially overcame the immunity causing local infection and a Canadian and a Danish isolate overcame it completely causing systemic mosaic-type symptoms. When these immunity-breaking strains were tested against swede line 165 which is also immune to UK 1 TuMV, the Canadian isolate overcame the immunity whereas the Danish isolate did not. Using this swede line, one susceptible and one immune line of oilseed rape as differentials, four distinct groups of TuMV isolates could be identified. Selections of oilseed rape immune to UK TuMV isolates were more severely affected by the Canadian TuMV than UK TuMV susceptible selections. The gene determining immunity to TuMV had no pleiotropic effect on susceptibility to cauliflower mosaic virus. The implications on these findings in relation to breeding for virus resistance are discussed.