Goal – Identify new commercial cultivars with resistance to the most aggressive causal agents of Panicle blight of pistachio.
Activities
Evaluated resistance in all susceptible tissues (green tissues: panicles & fruit, woody tissues: stem) with the three most aggressive pathogens (Botryosphaeria dothidea, Neofusicoccum mediterraneum, and Lasiodiplodia citricola), either alone or in combination. Inoculations were done on mature trees in an experimental orchard.
Results & Outputs
To identify resistant germplasm, stem inoculations are required. Inoculation of green tissues leads to blighted panicles and fruit. However, results were not different among cultivars and all three pathogen species colonized equally. In contrast, inoculation of stems lead to cankers of different lengths, depending on the cultivar and the pathogen.
Kerman, which makes up >90% of California pistachio acreage, showed an intermediate level of resistance, with cankers ranging from 5 to 20 cm. Even more resistant (i.e., with smaller cankers) were new cultivars Golden Hills, Lost Hills, and Randy. New cultivars Kalehghouchi, Joley, and Aria were most susceptible than Kerman. Among the pathogens, Lasiodiplodia citricola was the most aggressive species (i.e., caused the largest cankers) on all seven cultivars, including Kerman.
Significant Outcomes & Impacts
Several new cultivars – Golden Hills, Lost Hills – are more resistant than Kerman. The inoculation method we developed will be important for evaluating preventative fungicides, esp. given that even the most resistant cultivars still develop cankers.
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