Banana horizontal and vertical resistance to the burrowing nematode depends on the level of aggressiveness or virulence of the nematode population

-The burrowing nematode Radopholus similis is among the most damag-ing pathogens. Resistant plants are one of the most promising approaches for nem-atode control, and knowledge of resistance and aggressiveness components is es-sential to understand resistance genetics and developing new cultivars. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the degree of resistance of eight banana accessions to populations of R. similis to verify differences in the reproduction capacity between nematode populations and to study the horizontal/vertical resistance and aggres-siveness/virulence components of Musa spp. and R. similis pathosystem. The ac-cessions 4249-05, 4279-06, Yangambi Km5, 0323-03, 0337-02, 1304-06, Borneo and Grande Naine were inoculated with one of three R. similis populations from the Brazilian states of Pernambuco, Distrito Federal, and Santa Catarina and kept in a greenhouse. Accessions 4249-05, Yangambi Km5, 0323-03, and 4279-06 showed different resistance levels, and the Pernambuco population had the highest repro-ductive capacity. Using Griffing Model IV, evidence of vertical and horizontal resis-tance was observed, with accessions 4249-05 and Yangambi km5 showing the high-est levels of horizontal resistance.