Relationships between Meloidogyne incognita resistance genes in Lycopersicon peruvianum differentiated by heat sensitivity and nematode virulence

Resistance to Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood in clones of Lycopersicon peruvianum (L.) Mill. PI 126443-1MH, 270435-2R2 and 2704353MH, their F₁, a field-produced F₂, and their test-cross (TC₁) populations, was evaluated based on egg masses and eggs produced on root systems. Reactions to M. incognita isolates differing in virulence to gene Mi were determined at 25°C (Mi expressed) and 32°C (Mi not expressed). PI 126443-1MH, 270435-2R2, 270435-3MH, and their F₁ progenies were resistant to Mi-virulent and Mi-avirulent isolates. At 32°C with a Mi-avirulent isolate and at 25°C with a Mi-virulent isolate, four TC₁ generations segregated into resistant: susceptible (RS) ratios close to 31. These results indicated resistance to Mi-(a)virulent M. incognita isolates is conferred by different non-allelic dominant genes in PI 126443-1MH, 270435-2R2 and 270435-3MH. The F₂ progeny of PI 126443-1MH x EPP-1, challenged with Mi-avirulent M. incognita at 32°C and with Mi-virulent M. incognita at both 25°C and 32°C, segregated with a ratio of 31 (RS), indicating expression of a single dominant resistance gene in PI 126443-1MH in each case. In dual screenings on clones of the same individual plants from the TC₁ and F₂ segregating populations, some individual plants were susceptible at 32°C to a Mi-avirulent isolate but resistant to the Mi-virulent isolate, and vice versa, suggesting that different but linked genes confer heat-stable resistance to Mi-avirulent M. incognita and resistance to Mi-virulent M. incognita. We propose the symbol Mi-5 for the gene in PI 126443 clone 1MH and the symbol Mi-6 for the gene in PI 270435 clone 3MH which both confer resistance to Mi-avirulent M. incognita isolates at high temperature. We propose the symbol Mi-7 for the gene in PI 270435 clone 3MH and the symbol Mi-8 for the gene in PI 270435 clone 2R2 that both confer resistance to the Mi-virulent M. incognita isolate 557R at moderate (25°C) temperature. The novel resistance genes are linked and reside in a genomic region in each parental clone that is independent from the Mi locus.