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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #89017
Title: EXPLOITING PEA GERMPLASM FOR SEED WEEVIL RESISTANCE

Author
item Clement, Stephen
item Elberson, Leslie
item HARDIE, D. - AGRI. WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Submitted to: Annual Pacific Northwest Insect Management Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Not required.

Technical Abstract: The pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum (L.), is an economically important pest of peas, Pisum sativum L., and is particularly damaging in areas where dry edible peas are produced. Larvae reduce yield by consuming a large part of the seeds they infest. Developing a pea weevil resistant pea has been a goal of entomologists and plant breeders in Australia, Chile, United States sand the former USSR. Glasshouse trials to quantify pea weevil resistance in accessions of wild pea, P. fulvum, in the US and Australia using in situ screening methods demonstrated the presence of pod, seed testa, and cotyledon based mechanisms in resistant accessions. The mechanisms inhibited the ability of larvae to penetrate pod walls/seed testa and the development of larvae in cotyledon tissues. Larval mortality varied from 40-100 percent. The evaluations indicated that populations of pea weevil in the US and Australia respond in a similar way to wild pea accessions. These eresults bode well for the development of a weevil-resistant pea.