Responses of banana and plantain cultivars, lines and hybrids to the burrowing nematode Radopholus similis

Abstract Twenty-eight genotypes (bred diploids, seed-fertile triploids and tetraploid hybrids) of Musa spp. were evaluated in pot tests in Honduras for resistance and tolerance to Radopholus similis through comparison with reference genotypes (Grand Nain as susceptible and Pisang Jari Buaya and Yangambi Km5 as resistant). Eleven tests were carried out, each with seven to 12 Musa genotypes. Tissueculture plants (TC) or plants grown from a corm (Co) were inoculated with 1000 or 3500 nematodes per plant, respectively. Data on nematode population densities, fresh root weight, percentages dead roots, root necrosis and root bases on the corm with lesions were taken 13-23 weeks after inoculation. In most tests, Gros Michel and Highgate were as susceptible to R. similis as Grand Nain. Resistance was shown by both TC and Co plants of SH-3142, SH-3362, SH-3648 and SH-3723, and by Co plants of SH-2095, SH-3624, the female parents Calcutta 4 and Prata Enana, and the hybrid FHIA-01. Moderate resistance was shown by TC plants of SH-3624 and Co plants of SH-3437, the female parent Pelipita and the hybrids FHIA-18 and FHIA-23. The other genotypes were susceptible to R. similis although the male parents SH-3386 and SH-3640, and the hybrid FHIA-21 had some degree of resistance. FHIA-03 was susceptible but showed tolerance to R. similis.