Evaluation of Hot Pepper Germplasm for Multiple Disease Resistance against Root Knot Nematode and Viruses

One hundred forty genotypes of hot pepper were screened for resistance against root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and two viruses viz, Tomato leaf curl Joydebpur virus (ToLCJV) and Pepper mottle virus (PepMov) prevalent under Punjab conditions. Artificial screening was done separately against each pathogen under controlled conditions. In case of Tomato leaf curl Joydebpur virus the resistant lines were further confirmed for presence of the virus by subjecting their DNA to PCR amplification using universal begomovirus specifi c AV/AC primers. For Pepper mottle virus, resistant lines were subjected to double antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS-ELISA) against Pepper mottle virus (PepMoV) specific antibodies. The results showed that for root knot nematode, M.incognita single genotype, PP 9950-5197-0107-7058 exhibited resistant reaction and four genotypes S-343, SL 472, SAS-39 and CH-27 exhibited moderately resistant reaction. For Tomato leaf curl Joydebpur virus, four genotypes viz., NSS-2, S-343, SL 473 and CH-27 were regarded as moderately resistant whereas, for Pepper mottle virus, eight genotypes, viz., VNR-314-2-1-4, IS 264, VR 527, EC-532386, PP0237-7508, IS-266, NSS-2, SL 472 gave negative ELISA reaction after sap inoculation with Pepper mottle virus and were thus regarded resistant to the virus. Further by comparing the screening results for individual pathogen it was observed that four genotypes viz., SL 472, NSS-2, S-343 and PP 9950-5197-0107-7058 were found to have potential for multiple disease resistance to these three pathogens.