Stacy Bonos and Eric Weibel. Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers University, 59 Dudley Rd, Foran Hall, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Genetic resistance to dollar spot disease incited by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Bennet is a promising alternative to chemical and cultural control methods. Creeping bentgrass genotypes have been shown to respond differently to different isolates but no major disease resistance genes have been identified. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response of creeping bentgrass crosses to three different isolates of S. homoeocarpa , evaluate disease progression and identify number of loci involved in resistance to individual fungal isolates. Four hundred plants of each of three reciprocal controlled crosses were established in a field trial in a randomized complete block design in the fall of 2000. One hundred progeny of each cross were inoculated with one of three isolates of S. homoeocarpa , and a mixture of the three isolates and evaluated for dollar spot disease. This study was repeated in the fall of 2002 and included backcross and second generation populations in order to confirm the presence or absence of major genes. Dollar spot disease response of crosses differed depending on the isolate evaluated. Minimum loci calculations differed depending on the cross and the isolate. These results indicate the presence of different genes associated with resistance and susceptibility depending on grass genotype and fungal isolate.