Screening cultivated and wild genotypes of water melon Citrullus lanatus (Thumb) to identify resistance against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum race 2

The present experiment was carried out to screen 341 Citrullus sp. accessions for identification of resistant genotypes against Fon race 2. The accessions were screened across two consecutive experiments conducted during the late-rainy season of 2017. Spore suspension of Fon race 2 was inoculated following the standard pipette method at 14-day seedling stage. An accession showing a mean survival of > 67% at 28 days post-inoculation (DPI) was categorized as resistant and the remaining accessions were categorized as susceptible. A total of 30 accessions were found resistant. Of them, eight accessions possessed a mean survival of > 90% at 28 DPI and were categorized as highly resistant. All these highly resistant accessions belong to C. lanatus with moderate fruit quality traits. Therefore, these genotypes could be used for watermelon improvement programs in the future that aim to incorporate resistance to Fon race 2 into the crop’s elite and commercial market segments without incurring linkage drag.