Elect Osemwonyenmwen ALENKHE

Nine tomato genotypes collected from Nigerian Institute of Horticulture and National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Ibadan, were cultivated and screened for resistance to Oidium neolycopersici. The pathogen was cultured in the laboratory in potato dextrose agar as culture medium and re-inoculated to the leaves and root area of the screenhouse tomatoes. During the course of the experiment, there were expectations to find a resistant variety which will serve as a potential tool for cultivating resistant varieties of tomato. However, all accessions of tomatoes inoculated with the pathogen were evaluated and found to be susceptible to the pathogen. The pathogen totally colonised the plants, caused necrosis of the leaves,
prevented flowering and fruiting, and ultimately caused the death of all tomato plants observed in this study. The study showed that powdery mildew (Oidium neolycopersici) poses significant threat to greenhouse tomatoes, as well as tomatoes grown in the field.