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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Salinas, California » Crop Improvement and Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #100605
Title: RESISTANCE TO WESTERN SPOTTED AND STRIPED CUCUMBER BEETLE IN MELON

Author
item KISHABA, ALBERT - USDA, ARS
item Castle, Steven
item COUDRIET, DON - USDA, ARS
item McCreight, James - Jim
item BOHN, G. - USDA, ARS

Submitted to: Cucurbitaceae Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Kishaba, A.N., Castle, S.J., Coudriet, D.L., McCreight, J.D., Bohn, G.W. 1998. Resistance to western spotted and striped cucumber beetle in melon. Cucurbitaceae '98: Evaluation and enhancement of cucurbit germplasm, p. 101-105.

Interpretive Summary: Cucumber beetles cause damage to melon including cantaloupe, honeydew and other types of melons through feeding damage to seedlings, young plants, and fruit as well as by transmitting bacterial wilt. Two genes for resistance to seedling damage from cucumber beetle feeding have been described in non-bitter melons and in breeding line C922-174-B. This report describes low level resistance to seedling damage and high level resistance to fruit damage by cucumber beetle feeding in PI 414723. This may be a source of one or more new genes in melon for resistance to feeding damage by cucumber beetle.

Technical Abstract: While breeding for resistance to a particular pest, one may inadvertently introduce susceptibility to one or more other pests. Damage by the western western spotted (Acalymma trivittatum (Mannerheim)) and striped (Diabrotica undecimpunctata undecimpunctata (Mannerheim) cucumber beetles (CB) to some of our advanced melon (Cucumis melo L.) breeding lines in field plots alerted us to the necessity of assessing these lines for their susceptibility to feeding damage by CB. The damaged lines had been bred for resistance to melon aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover) using several different melon aphid-susceptible (MAS) recurrent parents from an initial cross of 'PMR 45' with PI 414723. Fifteen advanced melon breeding lines with different levels of melon aphid-resistance (MAR), their recurrent parents and PI 414723 were compared in a naturally-infested field test for susceptibility to feeding damage by CB. PI 222187 and breeding line WMR 29 9were also included in the test. Two of the 15 MAR breeding lines were les damaged, and five of the 15 were more damaged at the seedling stage than their respective recurrent parent. None of the MAR entries were more susceptible than their recurrent parents were for fruit damage by CB. PI 414723 was found to have a low level of resistance to seedling damage, and a high level of resistance to fruit damage from feeding by CB.