Identification of new resistant sources against downy mildew disease from a selected set of cucumber germplasm and its wild relatives

This study was undertaken to identify new sources of resistance against downy mildew of cucumber caused by Pseudoperonospora cubensis [(Berk. and Cart.) Rostow]. Pot experiments were conducted with 16 accessions each of Cucumis sativus and C. hardwickii during the years 2017 and 2018 using 12 isolates of P. cubensis representing different agroclimatic zones of India. The accession, IC331627 from Dehradun, Uttarakhand showed plant disease index (PDI) ranging from 5.55-20.35 per cent with an average PDI of 11.56 and 11.87 per cent during the years, 2017 and 2018, respectively. Hence, IC331627 was identified to be resistant against the five isolates of P. cubesis (Pc12, Pc17, Pc19, Pc21 and Pc24) and moderately resistant against one isolate (Pc22). This resistant accession C. hardwickii (IC331627) could be utilized to develop mapping population to map genomic regions conferring the resistance to downy mildew in cucumber.