Screening of Urfa pepper landraces for resistance to Meloidogyne incognita

The root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are significant pathogens that affect the yield and fruit quality in pepper cultivars (Capsicum spp.). Meloidogyne incognita is economically one of the most significant plant-parasitic nematode species in the world due to its increasing geographical distribution, extensive host range, and pathogenicity. The landraces are used in breeding programs due to their potential of carrying the resistance genes to plant diseases and pests, as well as providing a source of genetic diversity for plant breeding. Urfa pepper (isot) (Capsicum annuum) is one of the most significant pepper landraces grown at Şanlıurfa located within Fertile Crescent in Turkey. The purpose of this study is to find out the host status of Urfa pepper landraces to M. incognita. The 29 Urfa pepper landraces tested with M. incognita G7 isolate were found to be susceptible to M. incognita. Furthermore, N and Me1 genes were not present in the isot pepper landraces. Since a local source of resistance could not be found, it has become important to breed resistant cultivars by transferring resistance genes to isot pepper using marker assisted selection. In this study, the response of Urfa pepper landraces to the root-knot nematode M. incognita was reported for the first time.