Variation for Anthracnose Resistance within the Sorghum Germplasm Collection from Mozambique, Africa

John Erpelding and Louis Prom

Plant germplasm collections have been established to preserve genetic variation for utilization in crop improvement programs. Breeding for host plant resistant provides an economical approach to controlling diseases and stabilizing crop production but pathogen populations are variable and evolving; therefore, the identification of new sources of resistance are essential. The Mozambique sorghum collection maintained by the US National Plant Germplasm System in Griffin, Georgia was inoculated with Colletotrichum sublineolum and evaluated for anthracnose resistance in 2004 during the dry and wet growing seasons in Puerto Rico. Twelve of the 22 sorghum accessions showed a resistant response in both seasons. Four resistant accessions were evaluated in an anthracnose disease nursery in Georgia and found to be resistant, suggesting possible host plant resistance to different pathotypes of the disease. A susceptible disease response was observed for four accessions during both seasons. Six accessions varied in disease response within and between experiments suggesting environmental conditions influenced infection response. The anthracnose resistant germplasm identified from the Mozambique germplasm collection could be a valuable source of disease resistance for sorghum improvement programs.

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