Virus detection of resistance to huasteco pepper yellow vein virus and its heritability in wild genotypes of Capsicum annuum L

The huasteco pepper yellow vein virus (PHYVV) is one of the main pathogens that limit pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) crop production in Mexico. Plants collected in 31 wild populations of C. annuum from Northwest Mexico were tested for resistance to PHYVV and to estimate the heritability. Plants were inoculated with PHYVV through its insect natural vector Bemisia tabaci G. The molecular identification of the inoculum source and the insect vector used on this study indicate that it belongs to the Begomovirus PHYVV and to the biotype B of B. tabaci, respectively. In a first trial, three resistant populations were identified after 60 days post inoculation and were selected as parents for the second resistant test. In the second trial, the progeny of the resistant selected populations increased their level of resistant to PHYVV, indicating a respond to selection of the populations. The presence of viral DNA detected by PCR in 100% of the plants used in both trials indicate that the insect transmission method can be used as a new method for PHYVV resistant selection in pepper. The PHYVV resistance heritabilities in narrow sense of the populations UAS10, UAS12 and UAS13, selected as resistant, were 0.16, 0.25 and 0.11, respectively. These results indicate the existence of a genetic basis of resistance to PHYVV in populations selected as resistant, allowing its use in future pepper breeding programs.