RESISTANCE OF EARLY-MATURING EUROPEAN MAIZE GERMPLASM TO SUGARCANE MOSAIC-VIRUS (SCMV) AND MAIZE-DWARF MOSAIC-VIRUS (MDMV)

Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) are the most important viruses of maize in Europe. In field and greenhouse experiments, 122 early-maturing European maize inbreds (45 flint and 77 dent lines) were evaluated for their reaction to artificial inocula tion by SCMV and MDMV. Three dent inbreds (D21, D32, FAP1360 A) with c omplete resistance and four dent inbreds (D06: D09, R2306, FAP1396A) w ith partial resistance against both potyviruses under both greenhouse and field conditions were identified. All other inbreds were highly su sceptible to both SCMV and MDMV. Selection for virus resistance in mai ze breeding could be performed with only one virus at a time because a ll inbreds resistant to SCMV were also resistant to MDMV. Rank correla tions between percentages of infected plants in greenhouse and field t rials ranged from 0.51 to 0.72 for both SCMV and MDMV, suggesting that prescreening of breeding materials for virus resistance can be perfor med in the greenhouse but final evaluation in multilocation trials in the field is recommended.