Abstract
Eighty-five cultivars of spinach plant having been cultivated in Japan were evaluated for resistance to spinach wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. spinaciae. All of the cultivars tested showed willting symptom and the wilting percentage of the plants was increased with the number of propergules of the pathogen inoculated in soil. Fourteen cultivars (16.5%) showed relatively resistance (1-30% wilting) to the disease and most of them belonged to “Oriental Varities” originated from Spinacia oleacea var. spinosa. Conversely, most of cultivars called as “Western Varities” including cultivars developed from S. oleacea var. grabara were more susceptible to the disease than those originated from S. oleacea var. spinosa.
