EVALUATION OF A WILD LENTIL COLLECTION FOR RESISTANCE TO VASCULAR WILT

Vascular wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lentis Vasud. & Srin . is the major disease of the cultivated lentil (Lens culinaris Mediku s). Host plant resistance is the most practical method of disease mana gement. Wild lentils represent an unexplored potential source for dise ase resistance and other characters. Screening 219 accessions of wild Lens Miller and 2 accessions of Vicia montbretii Fisch. & Mey. (syn. L ens montbretii (Fisch et Mey) Davis et Plitm.) for resistance to a Syr ian isolate of this fungus at the seedling stage was conducted under a rtificial inoculation in a plastic house. Resistance at the reproducti ve growth stage was confirmed in pots in a plastic house and in a wilt -sick plot. Three accessions each of Lens culinaris ssp. orienralis (B oiss.) Ponert and L. nigricans M.B. Godr. ssp. nigricans Godr. and 2 o ft. nigricans ssp. ervoides (Brign.) Lad. maintained their resistance at the reproductive growth stage in the plastic house. All accessions of L. culinaris ssp. odemensis Lad. and V. montbretii were susceptible . However, in the sick-plot only three accessions (ILWL 79 & ILWL 113 of L. culinaris ssp. orientalis and ILWL 138 of L. nigricans ssp. ervo ides) maintained a good level of resistance. Resistance at the seedlin g stage was often found in accessions collected from northern and west ern sites of the distribution of the genus at low elevations. The most resistant accessions in the field at the reproductive growth stage we re from Syria and Turkey.