Resistance of 12 rose genotypes to 14 isolates of Diplocarpon rosae Wolf (rose blackspot) collected from eastern North America

Blackspot disease, caused by the fungus Diplocarpon rosae Wolf, is the most serious disease problem of roses worldwide. From a breeding perspective, the documented occurrence of races in the pathosystem necessitates the characterization of the race structure for the pathogen, identification of resistance genes in rose germplasm, and determination of the nature of genetic resistance to breed stably resistant rose cultivars. The objective of this study was to characterize the diversity of eastern North American races of D. rosae and to simultaneously determine the degree to which partial resistances existed in rose hosts. Twelve rose genotypes were inoculated with 14 single-conidial isolates collected from eastern North America. Three distinct D. rosae races were identified based on presence/absence of infection in the differential array. There were five distinct reaction patterns across pathogen isolates among the 12 rose genotypes. The partial resistance components of leaf area with symptoms, lesion length and incubation period were evaluated for all inoculated plants. Variation for expression of partial resistance was noted, and partial resistance appears to behave in a race-specific manner for some rose genotypes. Early defoliation differed between genotypes and may prove to be another component of partial resistance.