Methodological Instructions for Assessing Potato Varieties for Resistance to Strawberry Nematode under Laboratory Conditions
The tuber nematode Ditylenchus destructor is the causative agent of ditylenchiasis, or dry rot of potatoes, and causes significant damage to the crop both during the growing season and during storage. Methods for evaluating potato varieties for resistance to tuberous nematode in laboratory conditions have been developed to reduce the search term for a source or donor of nematode resistance. Methods for obtaining a suspension of a tuber nematode, methods of inoculation of tubers, a method for assessing potato varieties for susceptibility and resistance to the tuberous nematode Ditylenchus destructor are presented. Infection of tubers is carried out by introducing a suspension of nematodes into the wounds inflicted on the potato tubers. 6 methods were tested. The best infection and reproduction of nematodes occurred when nematodes were introduced into the “lattice”, “holes”, “pyramids”. Depending on the value of the average score of the lesion by ditylenchiasis and reproduction by the tuber nematode, the varieties are divided into 5 groups: highly resistant (average score 0), resistant (0.1-1), moderately resistant (1.1-3), susceptible (3.1-4), highly susceptible (4.1-5).