| Summary: | <i>Cucurbita</i> species can be affected by soil-borne pathogens, such as <i>Phytopthora capsici</i> and <i>Fusarium solani</i> f. sp. <i>cucurbitae</i> (<i>Fsc</i>). Diverse commercial and conserved lines of <i>Cucurbita</i> spp. were tested. <i>C. pepo</i> subsp. <i>pepo</i> genotypes showed the highest susceptibility to both pathogens. The tolerance to <i>P. capsici</i> and <i>Fsc</i> was then screened in a zucchini mutant population. Two M3 mutant lines (Cp107 and Cp116) with a high occurrence of tolerant individuals to <i>Phytophthora capsici</i> were obtained from a screening of 160 M2 mutant lines. The M3 lines presented higher tolerance than the background MUCU-16. Furthermore, in the inoculated samples, both mutants overexpressed <i>CpDEF</i> and expressed more <i>CpPAL</i> and <i>CpChiIV</i> than the susceptible control. It has been previously shown that this expression pattern could be associated with tolerance in the <i>P. capsici</i> - <i>Cucurbita</i> spp. pathosystem. The M3 lines obtained could be applied in breeding programs, as they are likely to be compatible with the highly susceptible <i>C. pepo</i> subsp. <i>pepo</i> genotype.
|
|---|