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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mississippi State, Mississippi » Crop Science Research Laboratory » Genetics and Sustainable Agriculture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #276146
Title: Effects of field plot size on variation in white flower anther injury by tarnished plant bug for host plant resistance evaluations in Arkansas cotton

Author
item Willers, Jeffrey
item TEAUGE, TINA - Arkansas State University
item MILLIKEN, GEORGE - Kansas State University
item BOURLAND, FRED - Arkansas State University

Submitted to: Agronomy
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2014
Publication Date: 2/28/2014
Citation: Willers, J.L., Teauge, T.G., Milliken, G., Bourland, F.M. 2014. Effects of field plot size on variation in white flower anther injury by tarnished plant bug for host plant resistance evaluations in Arkansas cotton. Agronomy. 4:144-164.

Interpretive Summary: Field trials conducted in 2008 and 2009 investigated whether field plot size and arrangement of cultivar lines among the plots affects incidence of white flower anther injury by tarnished plant bug (TPB) ((Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois)) in host plant resistance (HPR) evaluations. The three cotton lines evaluated in the trial were a susceptible frego bract line (RBCDHGPIQH-197) and 2 standards, SureGrow 105 and Deltapine 393. Samplers monitored white flower anther injury between single row, 50 foot long, plots (mini-plots) of each cultivar embedded within large row plots 28 rows wide, 150 feet long (max-plots), each planted to only one of the three cultivars. The hierarchial, 3 x 3 Latin square experimental design used to analyze the experiment is unique because of the different analysis tiers required due to the different sizes of plots and arrangement of cultivars among them. This design analyzed the counts of white flower anther injury in a useful way. The results of the analysis verified the use of white flower anther injury in HPR research for TPB and that such screening trials are not influenced by plot size and interspersion of cultivar lines among plots.

Technical Abstract: Field trials conducted in 2008 and 2009 investigated whether field plot size affects incidence of white flower anther injury by tarnished plant bug (TPB) ((Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois)) in host plant resistance (HPR) evaluations. The three cotton lines evaluated in the trial included a susceptible frego bract line (RBCDHGPIQH-197) and 2 standards, SureGrow 105 and Deltapine 393. Samplers monitored white flower anther injury (WFAI) between single row, 50 foot long, plots (mini-plots) and multiple row plots 28 rows wide, 150 feet long (max-plots). Also, a sub-section of the max-plots was sprayed with insecticides to evaluate these tactics on altering the incidence of white flower anther injury. Plant bug numbers were very low in 2008, but infestation levels were higher in 2009. Significantly higher numbers of flowers with anther injury were observed in both years in the susceptible frego bract line compared to SureGrow 105 (SG105) and Deltapine 393 (DP393) lines. In both years, anther injury levels were similar in the max- and mini-plots, with lower levels observed in max-sprayed plots. The white flower monitoring procedure appears to be a consistent indicator of plant bug preferences that is not influenced by plot size or interspersions of cultivar lines among the plots.