Increased biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in hybrids between wild and domesticated cucurbit species

MARTÍNEZ, ANALÍA B.; ANTONELLI, CRISTIAN; FANELLO, DIEGO DARÍO; LÓPEZ ANIDO, FERNANDO; BARTOLI, CARLOS G.

Santa Fé

Congreso; XXXIII Argentinian meeting of Plant Physiology; 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

Wild plant species constitute a valuablereservoir of genes contributing to increase the biotic and abiotic stresstolerance in domesticated species. In this study, we generated hybrids betweentwo accessions of Cucurbitamaxima subsp.maxima var. Zapallito (domesticated species) and Cucurbita ecuadorensis Cutler y Whitaker accession Grif 9446 (wildspecies) and evaluated their performance under stress conditions. Parental andhybrids plants were treated to flooding and recovery conditions in the fieldwhat frequently impairs the yield of this species. Hybrids showed higher chlorophyllcontent (estimated as SPAD units), transpiration (measured with a porometer) andphotosynthesis (determined by a chlorophyll fluorometer) leading to a largelyincreased survival than domesticated parental plants under this stressfulenvironment. In addition, hybrids showed higher tolerance when challenged tovirus infections showing onlyaccessions of the domesticated plants symptoms ofdisease. These results constitute a promising contribution forgenerating cucurbit plants withincreased performance when cultivated under anenvironment restrictingcropproduction.