Heritability of aggressiveness components in Cercospora coffeicola isolates

Brown eye spot (BES) disease caused by the fungus Cercospora coffeicola is present in all coffee-producing regions of the world. Heritability has been estimated in studies of Cercospora leaf spot disease resistance in several crops, but there are few studies characterizing the genetic heritability of the phenotypic characteristics of the fungus. Therefore, this study aims to verify the existence of heritability of the aggressiveness components (disease severity, sporulation and cercosporin production) in C. coffeicola isolates. Additionally, we estimate the effect of the municipalities (geographic origin) to check their influence on the fungus aggressiveness components. Variation in heritability was observed for each of the three aggressiveness components evaluated. Cluster analysis showed the genetic variability of C. coffeicola isolates, however there was no grouping of C. coffeicola isolates according to their geographic origin. Based on the results obtained, a group of C. coffeicola isolates with high severity and heritability values were selected with the potential to be used in the development and screening of resistant coffee cultivars.