Resistance to Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Lab. in a wild Cicer germplasm collection

Cultivated chickpea germplasm collections contain a low frequency of ascochyta blight resistant accessions. This might lead to limitations on the future progress of chickpea breeding worldwide. In an effort to identify novel sources of resistance to ascochyta blight, 56 unique accessions, comprising 8 annual wild Cicer species, were evaluated under a controlled environment that was optimal for infection with an aggressive Australian isolate of Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labrousse. The majority of wild Cicer accessions were either susceptible or highly susceptible to A. rabiei 21 days after inoculation; however, 11 accessions, of which 7 were Cicer judaicum, were resistant. The most resistant accession detected in this study, ATC 46934, together with accessions ATC 46892 and ATC 46935, which were resistant in this and another study, should be targeted for use in future interspecific resistance breeding programs.