Evaluation of Turkish melon accessions for resistance to Fusarium wilt, downy mildew, powdery mildew, Cucumber mosaic virus and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus

The aim of this study was to detect disease resistance in melon genetic resources collected from different regions (south-eastern Anatolia, middle Anatolia, Aegean, Marmara-Thrace and eastern Anatolia) of Turkey. A total of 85 melon and 15 snake melon genotypes were tested against Fusarium wilt (races 1 and 2), downy mildew and powdery mildew (race 3) as fungal diseases, and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) as virus diseases. In the case of Fusarium wilt race 1, eight genotypes were found resistant, 86 genotypes were susceptible and one genotype was segregating. Fifty-four percent of the genotypes were found to be resistant, 28% were susceptible and 18% were segregating for Fusarium wilt race 2. In the case of downy mildew, four genotypes ('Kav 28', 'Kav 71', 'Kav 237' and 'Kav 255') were resistant, while 78 genotypes were susceptible and 16 genotypes were segregating. Among all the genotypes tested, only two genotypes ('Kav 60' and 'Kav 277') were resistant to powdery mildew. While two genotypes ('Kav 281' and 'Ac 33') were found to be resistant to CMV, none of the genotypes were resistant to ZYMV.