Resistance of Wheat Accessions to the English Grain Aphid Sitobion avenae

Abstract

The English grain aphid, Sitobion avenae, is a major pest species of wheat crops; however, certain varieties may have stronger resistance to infestation than others. Here, we investigated 3 classical resistance mechanisms (antixenosis, antibiosis, and tolerance) by 14 wheat varieties/lines to S. avenae under laboratory and field conditions. Under laboratory conditions, alatae given the choice between 2 wheat varieties, strongly discriminated against certain varieties. Specifically, the ‘Amigo’ variety had the lowest palatability to S. avenae alatae of all varieties. ‘Tm’ (Triticum monococcum), ‘Astron,’ ‘Xanthus,’ ‘Ww2730,’ and ‘Batis’ varieties also had lower palatability than other varieties. Thus, these accessions may use antibiosis as the resistant mechanism. In contrast, under field conditions, there were no significant differences in the number of alatae detected on the 14 wheat varieties. One synthetic line (98-10-30, a cross between of Triticum aestivum (var. Chris) and Triticum turgidum (var. durum) hybridization) had low aphid numbers but high yield loss, indicating that it has high antibiosis, but poor tolerance. In comparison, ‘Amigo,’ ‘Xiaoyan22,’ and some ‘186Tm’ samples had high aphid numbers but low yield loss rates, indicating they have low antibiosis, but good tolerance. Aphid population size and wheat yield loss rates greatly varied in different fields and years for ‘98-10-35,’ ‘Xiaoyan22,’ ‘Tp,’ ‘Tam200,’ ‘PI high,’ and other ‘186Tm’ samples, which were hybrid offspring of T. aestivum and wheat related species. Thus, these germplasm should be considered for use in future studies. Overall, S. avenae is best adapted to ‘Xinong1376,’ because it was the most palatable variety, with the greatest yield loss rates of all 14 wheat varieties. However, individual varieties/lines influenced aphid populations differently in different years. Therefore, we strongly recommend a combination of laboratory and long-term field experiments in targeted planting regions to identify varieties/lines that consistently show high resistance to S. avenae infestation.

Antibiosis to Metopolophium dirhodum (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Spring Wheat and Emmer Cultivars

“…The use of combinations of different cultivars of host plants in the field can significantly reduce aphid occurrence ( Ninkovic et al 2002 ). To determine whether a crop cultivar is resistant to aphids, testing is required under changing temperature and humidity conditions similar to those in the field ( Atlıhan et al 2017 ) and during different seasons in field conditions ( Hu et al 2016 ). Such testing is important because interannual variability in antibiosis has been reported ( Hu et al 2016 ).…”

“…Screening cultivars and genetic lineages for resistance to aphids should be the first step of this process. Variability in resistance to aphids has been shown among different cultivars of a same host plant species, including cereals ( Papp and Mesterházy 1996 , Migui and Lamb 2004 , Klueken et al 2008 , Hu et al 2016 , Girvin et al 2017 , Ajmal et al 2018 , Chandrasekhar et al 2018 ). Ancient taxa of the genus Triticum , including einkorn ( Triticum monococcum L.), durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum (L.) ssp.…”

Identification of Sitobion avenae F. resistance and genetic diversity of wheat landraces from Qinling Mountains, China

“…And five in 200 genotypes from the main wheatproducing areas of China were moderately resistant (Zhou et al 2011). Hu et al (2016) detected great differences in the crop yield loss rates and the aphid number ratio of the same germplasm. And yet, some studies have suggested that the aphid number ratio is suitable for the preliminary screening of large quantities of wheat germplasm materials in the field (Zhou et al 2011;Wang et al 2013;.…”

Flight muscles degenerate by programmed cell death after migration in the wheat aphid, Sitobion avenae

“…The wheat aphid, Sitobion avenae , migrates from southern to northern China and causes ~ 10% wheat yield losses every year [12]. Here, we investigated S. avenae wing development and IFM degeneration, and identified some differentially expressed genes pre-/post-migration.…”