DETERMINATION OF POST Striga ATTACHMENT RESISTANCE IN SELECTED RESISTANT SORGHUM LINES IN KENYA ....

The most sustainable management measure is to breed for Striga resistance in sorghum and other cereals, but there is a lack of cereal germplasm that exhibits post attachment to Striga, which limits this noble approach. The post attachment resistance levels of four Striga resistant sorghum (SRS) lines were tested against four Striga ecotypes from Kenya and Tanzania in this study. Sorghum seeds were cultivated in rhizotrons (root observation chambers), and seedlings were injected with pre-germinated Striga seeds. After emergence, the attached parasites were removed from the sorghum roots and assessed for number of attachments, length, and dry biomass. On all sorghum lines, there was a substantial variation in biomass and average length of connected Striga seedlings between the three Kenyan ecotypes. The parasite's inability to penetrate the host endodermis, necrosis, and the browning and death of connected Striga seedlings were all phenotypes of a resistance mechanism. To the S. hermonthica ecotypes employed in this investigation, SRS 1208/2 had very high post-attachment resistance, SRS 2408 and SRS 2208 had intermediate resistance, and SRS 3308/5 had low resistance. After infection, the difference in biomass, quantity, and length of connected Striga seedlings revealed genetic diversity for Striga resistance in the selected lines. Cultivar SRS 1208/2 was the most potential source of resistance to the obligatory root parasite S. hermonthica among the four sorghum lines evaluated, and can be suggested for future use in sorghum breeding projects in East Africa.

Please see the link :- https://www.ikprress.org/index.php/JOGAE/article/view/2583