Resistance of some commercial groundnut cultivars to Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus in Minna, Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

Abstract

Cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus (CABMV) is one of the major viruses infecting many crop species in the family Fabaceae including groundnut. CABMV constitutes a serious limitation against legume productivity in Nigeria. Therefore, twenty commercial cultivars of groundnut were evaluated for resistance to the virus in Minna, Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria during the 2015 cropping season. The trial was conducted using Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Groundnut seedlings were infected with the virus through mechanical inoculation at 10 days after sowing and virus identity was confirmed using Enzyme- Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The plants were assessed for disease incidence, disease severity (1=no symptom; 5=severe mosaic) as well as morphological and yield attributes. Data were analysed using general linear model and cultivar grouping was performed with cluster analysis. One hundred seed weight of infected SAMNUT 23 plants was the highest (54.9 g), followed by SAMNUT 25 and SAMNUT 26 which gave 50.2 and 49.4 g, respectively. The cultivars ICG-01276 and ICG-02189 exhibited the lowest reduction in dry haulm weight (31.1 %). Therefore, ICG-01276, ICG-02189, SAMNUT 23, 25 and 26 probably contained genes which could be utilized in breeding groundnut with durable resistance to CABMV in order to enhance high yield and food security.