REACTIONS OF LIMA BEAN (Phaseolus lunatus L.) ACCESSIONS TO Colletotrichum truncatum1

Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) can be considered as an alternative income and food supply to farmers of the Brazilian Northeast. This crop has faced serious sanitary problems. Among the most important diseases that attack this crop, the anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum truncatum requires greater attention. This study aimed to determine the resistance of lima bean accessions to the isolates of C. truncatum. Detached leaves were used from ten lima bean accessions, originated from production fields in Paraiba State - Brazil. They were artificially inoculated with ten isolates of C. truncatum. The isolates were grown on bean-dextrose -agar medium under temperature 27 +/- 2 degrees C and a photoperiod of 12 hours, for fourteen days. The evaluations of the accessions' resistance to the isolates were performed at 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 days after inoculation (DAI), adopting a scale of notes, and the results were transformed in the area under the disease progress curve. The research was carried out in completely randomized design, in a 10x10 factorial arrangement (accessions x isolates) with 12 replications. The first symptoms of anthracnose on the detached leaves appeared from the third day after inoculation. The accessions were grouped from highly to moderately resistant or susceptive. The aggressiveness among C. truncatum isolates varied depending on the genetic variability of the lima bean accessions used. Accessions with significant resistance levels to anthracnose can be used as resistance sources in future breeding programs.