Evaluation of Asparagus for Resistance to Puccinia asparagi. Bonnie L. Blanchette, Associate Scientist, Department of Horticultural Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108. J. V. Groth, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology; and Luther Waters, Jr., Assistant Professor, Department of Horticultural Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108. Plant Dis. 66:904-906. Accepted for publication 26 February 1982. Copyright 1982 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-904.

Asparagus officinalis lines from the United States, Canada, and France were evaluated for resistance to Puccinia asparagi in naturally infected plots at two Minnesota locations. Several New Jersey selections, including NJ 497, NJ 630, and Rutgers 202, were resistant to both the aecial and uredinial states of the rust fungus. The correlation between the disease ratings based on the frequency of aecia and uredinia among the 45 lines at one location was significant (r = 0.51, P = 0.01). Disease ratings for uredinial development at the first and second locations were highly correlated (r = 0.71, P = 0.01) for the 29 lines included at both locations.

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