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Title: Plant resistance management strategies for greenbug (Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)) (Homoptera: Aphididae) in wheat-sorghum cropping systems

Author
item Burd, John
item Puterka, Gary

Submitted to: Redia Journal of Zoology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/2009
Publication Date: 11/15/2009
Citation: Burd, J.D., Puterka, G.J. 2009. Plant resistance management strategies for greenbug (Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)) (Homoptera: Aphididae) in wheat-sorghum cropping systems. Redia Journal of Zoology. 92:227-229.

Interpretive Summary: Biotypic diversity of the greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), has been a primary concern to breeding programs for wheat and sorghum in the United States since the 1960's. Strategies for developing plant resistance have stressed the use of tolerance with the belief that it would be less selective for biotypes. However, we provide evidence that greenbug biotypes are not a result of crop selective factors. Instead we propose that greenbug biotypic variation results from a combination of non-cultivated host selective factors and sexual reproduction. Consequently, we question the tenet that prioritizes plant tolerance while neglecting highly effective single-gene resistance.

Technical Abstract: Biotypic diversity of the greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), has been a primary concern to breeding programs for wheat and sorghum in the United States since the 1960's. Strategies for developing plant resistance have stressed the use of tolerance with the belief that it would be less selective for biotypes. However, we provide evidence that greenbug virulence on crops does not coincide with greenbug fitness, and the use of plant resistance has not selected for more virulent greenbug biotypes. Instead, the greenbug species complex is made up of host-adapted races that have diverged on non-cultivated grass species well before the advent of modern agriculture, and biotypes are comprised of genetically diverse individuals among different host races that merely share similar virulence genes. Consequently, we question the tenet that prioritizes tolerance while neglecting single-gene antibiotic resistance.