Resistance of in Vitro-derived Cucumber Plants to Pythium aphanidermatum
`Embryonic axes-derived `Burpless Hybrid' cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plantlets germinated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 16 combinations of BAP and NAA and seedlings derived from whole seeds cultured on semi-solid agar were inoculated in vitro with two isolates (WFU3 and WFM13) of Pythium aphanidermatum. All axes-derived plantlets and whole seedlings inoculated with WFM13 isolates were susceptible to blight and died 2 days after inoculation. Similarly, all seedlings inoculated with WFU3 isolates were killed within 2 days after inoculation; however, the rate of development and severity of blight varied among the axes-derived plantlets. Blight on axes-derived plantlets, regenerated on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg BAP/liter and 0.2 mg NAA/liter, was significantly less than on regenerants cultured on all other amended MS media. On some media, callus developed on crowns and/or primary roots. The presence of callus influenced resistance to Pythium. In a second experiment, axes-derived cucumber regenerants from five genotypes, cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2 mg BAP/liter and 0.2 mg N&A/liter, were compared for their resistance to P. aphanidermatum isolate WFU3. Resistance was significantly greater for `Burpless Hybrid' and `Sweetslice' than for three other genotypes. Chemical names used: 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP); α -naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA).