Evaluation of Beta corolliflora for resistance to curly top in Idaho

Abstract

Curly top of sugarbeet is caused by Beet severe curly top virus (BSCTV) or closely related curtovirus species which are vectored by the beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus). Beta corolliflora, shown in 1969 to impart a very high level of curly top resistance to sugarbeet into the BC 2 generation, is a wild relative of cultivated sugarbeet that has not been utilized in breeding programs. The nature of curly top resistance from B. corolliflora seems to be reduced symptoms and resistance to viral accumulation. Field screening of 14 B. corolliflora accessions for resistance to curly top followed by PCR detection of BSCTV did not identify any accessions with phenotypic symptoms of curly top and 9 accessions did not have detectable virus. Clip cage inoculations followed by PCR detection of BSCTV and of related species, Beet mild curly top and Beet curly top viruses, were difficult to interpret due to small sample size but indicated that accessions BETA 408, BETA 414, BETA 528, BETA 690, and BETA 805, from Genebank Gatersleben, Foundation Liebniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben, Germany had no visible curly top symptoms or evidence of virus accumulation. Results of a preference test showed that beet leafhoppers did not