Differential Chemosensory Responses in Wild, Unadapted Groundnut Germplasm and Susceptible Cultivar to Rust (Puccinia arachidis Speg.)

Abstract

Rust is a serious disease causing severe yield losses in many groundnut-growing countries of the world. Genetic resistance to this disease in the cultivated groundnut is almost lacking. However, several species of the genus Arachis are immune or resistant to this disease (Subrhamanyam et al. 1980) and offer immense scope to breed cultivars having wider and differential genetic resistance. Before utilizing these sources of resistance in the breeding programmes, understanding the mechanisms ofresistance is essential. Oxidative stress has been one of the various defence responses implicated in the disease resistance and have consequently been the subject of much research. However