ARS | Publication request: HOST PLANT RESISTANCE INITIATIVES TO MANAGE THE WESTERN CORN ROOTWORM

Submitted to: Brazilian Entomological Congress Abstracts and Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 11, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is an economic pest of maize in the United States (recently found in Europe) and responsible annually for over one billion dollars in loss and management costs. In order to develop maize cultivars with resistance to this pest, much technology is required. This includes laboratory rearing, manual infestation techniques, equipment for infesting, a damage rating scale, means of cleansing roots to observe damage, and a method to extract roots from the soil. All of this is in addition to locating and identifying maize germplasm with resistance genes. Also, once the resistant material is identified, it must be managed in a manner to produce commercially acceptable materials to be utilized by the seed industry. Many techniques have been developed, and some resistant germplasm has been identified in exotic maize and relatives of maize, such as Tripsacum and teosinte. The techniques, equipment and identified germplasm sources are illustrated and discussed in this presentation. They should assist in future research.