Genetic Analysis of Meloidogyne arenaria Race 1 Resistance in Tobacco.

Inheritance of resistance to the peanut root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria (Neal) Chitwood race 1) was investigated in the flue-cured tobacco cv. Speight G 28 and the breeding lines 81-RL-2K and SA 1214. The genetic relationship of this resistance in Speight G 28 to the resistance of the same cultivar to races 1 and 3 of M. incognita was also studied. Crosses were made between the root-knot nematode-susceptible flue-cured tobacco cv. NC 2326 and the three resistant genotypes. Parental, F₁, F₂ and backcross generations (BC₁P₁, BC₁P₂) were grown for each cross in randomized complete block designs with five replications in the greenhouse. Data indicated that resistance to M. arenaria race 1 in the three resistance sources is conditioned by a single dominant gene, but this resistance is partial compared to that for M. incognita races 1 and 3. Further, resistance to races 1 and 3 of M. incognita and resistance to M. arenaria race 1 in cv. Speight G 28 appear to be controlled by the same gene. These results, combined with the absence of segregation in the F₂ populations of the crosses between resistant parents 81-RL-2K × SA 1214, 81-RL-2K × Speight G 28, and SA 1214 × Speight G 28, suggest allelism of resistance among these genotypes.