Abstract

Yuntian-930 is a wild melon that is highly resistant to powdery mildew (PM). To determine the inheritance of resistance to PM, Yuntian-930 was crossed with another cultivated melon, Hualaishi, which is susceptible to PM. Inheritance of resistance to Podosphaera xanthii race 2F. in six plant generations (P₁, P₂, F₁, B₁, B₂, and F₂) was studied using the mixed major-gene plus polygene inheritance mode with joint analysis method. Inheritance of resistance in wild melons fitted the model of two pairs of additive-dominance-epistasis major genes plus additive-dominant-epistasis polygene. The additive, dominant and epistatic effects between the two major genes played an important role in inheritance. The estimated values of heritability of major genes in B₁, B₂ and F₂ were 62.98, 58.58 and 90.89% and those of polygene heritability were 28.93, 31.47 and 3.22%, respectively. The ratios of the environmental variance to phenotype variance were 5.89 to 9.94%. Thus, resistance of Yuntian-930 to PM was controlled not just by two major genes, but was also affected by polygene and the environment. The selection efficiency for a major gene of F₂ was highest in the resistance breeding program.

Key words: Wild melon, powdery mildew, resistance, P. xanthii race 2F, inheritance.