Responses of landraces and commercial cultivars of yellow passion fruit to the prevalence of Fusarium oxysporum

Yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa) is a fruit of high economic potential in Colombia, but the prevalence of some diseases often makes growers stop cultivating it. Also, varieties´ tolerance against some pathogens that have high prevalence in Colombia have not been released. The objective of this study was to contribute to the characterization of 63 populations of yellow passion fruit, including 46 cultivars and 17 landraces. The plants were evaluated using morphoagronomic descriptors (leaves, flowers, and fruits) as well as ecophysiological parameters (stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and degree of chlorosis) evaluated against the 21-02129 strain of Fusarium oxysporum isolated from purple passion fruit (gulupa, in Spanish). Results showed low levels of germination (55% landraces and 50% cultivars). The landraces populations showed greater morphological variability and greater tolerance to the pathogen expressed by the chlorophyll concentration from intact leaf samples on 28 d post inoculation (dpi) (landraces: 458±108 μmol m-2 and cultivars: 411±125 μmol m-2) and stomatal conductance (landraces: 90.8±14.9 mmol m-2 s-1 and cultivars: 87.1±34.1 mmol m-2s-1). The study revealed a good potential for tolerance to this pathogen in landraces, so it is necessary to carry out research aimed at preserving this diversity in situ and ex situ as well as a continuous analysis of these populations.