Inheritance of resistance to Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Homoptera: Aphididae) in two wheat lines

Abstract

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia, is a serious pest of wheat grown in the summer rainfall regions of South Africa. The use of D. noxia resistant cultivars may reduce the impact of this pest on cereal production, at the same time reducing environmental risks and minimizing control costs. The objective of the study was to determine the inheritance of D. noxia resistance present in the lines OSU ID 2808 (Triticum aestivum) and Aus 22498 (Triticum aestivum var. vavilovi) in order to ensure their judicious use in a backcross breeding programme. Resistant lines OSU ID 2808 and Aus 22498 were crossed with the susceptible cultivar Tugela after being screened with D. noxia. Resistance reactions of the F1, BC1 and F2 plants, and individual F2 plant derived F3 families indicated that the resistance in both genotypes is controlled by single dominant genes. It is unknown whether these genes are identical to any known, designated resistance genes or each other. In Suid-Afrika is die Russiese koringluis, Diuraph...