Resistance to Phytophthora infestans in diploid and tetraploid potato families. 1. Resistance in detached leaflets

Potato families, segregating for resistance to Phytophthora infestans, were tested repeatedly to evaluate the distribution of resistance to P. infestans, the repeatability of testing results and correlation between resistance and some other characters. Four diploid and four tetraploid families were evaluated together with their parents and with potato cultivars used as standard. For all inoculations a virulent fungus isolate MP 245 was used. Leaflets were collected from plants growing in the field (summer tests) or in a glasshouse (autumn and spring tests). Segregation of major genes determining resistance was detectable in most families. In families originating from mating a resistant parent with a susceptible partner some progeny genotypes with resistance level of the resistant parent could be identified. In families originating from two parents showing only some resistance, a transgression of resistance could be found in the progeny. The expression of resistance depended on testing conditions. Some genotypes were consistently superior or inferior in resistance under all testing conditions, but often repeated evaluations of genotypes did not provide consistent results and significant interactions genotypes x tests were detectable.