Reaction of Some Coffea arabica Genotypes to Strains of Colletotrichum kahawae, the Cause of Coffee Berry Disease

Abstract

Pathogenicity tests were performed on 11 genotypes of Coffea arabica using single‐isolate suspensions of Colletotrichum Kahawae obtained from 90 monoconidial isolates. The objective of this study was to estimate the proportion of pathogenic variation corresponding 10 differences in aggressiveness and virulence (races). A large part of the variation in the pathogen population was due to aggressiveness. The differential effects were too small to suggest conclusively that races exist. This paper discusses the possible causes for the observed small differential interaction and suggests breeding strategies that not only prevent possible adaptation of the pathogen to resistant varieties but also limit variation for resistance due to differences in aggressiveness of the pathogen.