A commercial clubroot-resistant F
1 cultivar of Chinese cabbage (
Brassica rapa L. subsp.
pekinensis), Kukai 70, is resistant to an isolate of populations of
Plasmodiophora brassicae from Hagi (HG) city and is susceptible to another from Yamaguchi (YMG) city. The degree and frequency of primary and secondary
cycle colonization by the isolates in the root hairs and root tissues of cv. Kukai 70 were compared. Seedlings of cv. Kukai
70 were grown in soils amended with inoculum of either HG or YMG and harvested 10 days after inoculation to observe the primary
cycle (number of root-hair infections) and 20, 30, and 40 days after inoculation to observe of the secondary cycle (frequency
of infected cells and degree of plasmodial development based on the number of nuclei in infected cells). Although more root
hairs were infected in HG than in YMG, fewer cells in root tissues including the cortex and medullary rays were infected in
HG than in YMG. In addition, YMG developed plasmodia with many nuclei and formed resting spores, whereas plasmodia remained
immature with a small number of nuclei in HG and did not form resting spores even by 40 days after inoculation. These results
suggest that suppression of plasmodial development during secondary colonization is associated with resistance mechanisms
to HG in cv. Kukai 70. Starch did not accumulate (i.e., development of amyloplasts) in HG-infected cells. This may be involved
in the suppression of secondary colonization of
P. brassicae in the cultivar.
Key words Clubroot-resistant cultivar - Cortical infection - Chinese cabbage - Plasmodial development -
Plasmodiophora brassicae
- Resistant mechanisms