Responses of Strawberry Species and Cultivars to the Root-lesion and Northern Root-knot Nematodes

The relative susceptibility of 44 genotypes of wild Fragaria L. and commercial cultivars of strawberry Fragaria × ananassa Duch . to Meloidogyne hapla Chitwood and Pratylenchus penetrans (Cobb) Filipjev & Shuurmans Stekhoven was evaluated in the greenhouse. Eleven genotypes were highly resistant to populations of M. hapla from Washington State and Oregon, with Rf values (initial nematode density/final population density) less than 0.5. However, root growth of most genotypes, including resistant genotypes, was reduced by M. hapla. Thirteen genotypes were ranked more resistant to P. penetrans than F. × ananassa `Totem', a susceptible cultivar. Root growth of most genotypes was not affected by P. penetrans under these experimental conditions. We conclude that commercial cultivars and wild Fragaria genotypes can provide a readily exploitable source of resistance to M. hapla. Conversely, sources of resistance to P. penetrans were uncommon in the germplasm evaluated. The F. × ananassa cultivars, which already have commercially important characteristics, appear to be a better source of resistance for both nematode species than the wild, unimproved germplasm.