Inheritance of the resistance to Globodera rostochiensis pathotype Ro2 in potato

Nine advanced tetraploid potato clones with S. tuberosum ssp, tuberosum, S. tuberosum ssp, andigena, and S. vernei background were found to be highly resistant to Globodera rostochiensis pathotype Ro2. In order to characterize the inheritance of the resistance to Ro2 and determine the genotype of these Ro2-resistant clones, a series of testcrosses to susceptible S. tuberosum cultivars, as well as crosses between the resistant clones, were made. A total of 1081 seedlings corresponding to 18 families were grown, inoculated with 3000 G, rostochiensis juveniles (J2), and evaluated by the root-ball method. To determine which genetic model best fit the data, goodness-of-fit-test were performed. The analysis assumed tetrasomic inheritance under the hypothesis that resistance is due to one locus with complete dominance. From the analysis of the data it is concluded that there is no consistent evidence against the hypothesis that a single dominant gene is associated with the resistance to Ro2 and that the Ro2-resistant clones are simplex. In general, the number of cysts observed on the root balls was low compared with the results of other studies, the results of the different inoculations were variable, and there was an excess of resistant plants. Possible explanations for these observations are discussed.