Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #67437

Title: A SERIOUS PEST OF MALTING BARLEY: RUSSIAN WHEAT APHID

Author
item Mornhinweg, Dolores - Do
item Porter, David
item Webster, James
item BREWER, MICHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF WY0MING
item Jones, Berne

Submitted to: American Society of Brewing Chemists Newsletter
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The RWA is a devastating pest on malting barley grown in the intermountain regions of the western U.S. RWA damage symptoms include white or purple streaking of leaves that are tightly rolled which results in head trapping and reduced grain yield. No resistance has been found in current malting or feed barley varieties nor in varieties from the past. Screening of the USDA ANational Small Grains Collection of Hordeum vulgare did identify some barley accessions with a range of resistance from high to moderately low. These accessions are wild collections from many parts of the world and are not generally adapted to U.S. farming practices nor would they be expected to have good malting quality. Barley breeders attempting to bring RWA resistance genes into good malting barleys will have to use resistant lines selected from these accessions in their breeding programs. Agronomic and quality evaluations of these lines indicate that RWA-resistant lines differ rin adaptability and in malting quality. Therefore, some lines might be use by breeders with less detrimental effect on plant type and malting quality. RWA feeding seriously reduces malting quality as well as grain yield of current malting varieties.