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ARS Home » Plains Area » El Reno, Oklahoma » Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center » Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397879
Research Project: Genetic Mechanisms and Improvement of Insect Resistance in Wheat, Barley, and Sorghum

Location: Peanut and Small Grains Research Unit

Title: Resistance to bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), in barley, Hordeum vulgare (L.)

Author
item Mornhinweg, Dolores - Do
item Armstrong, John

Submitted to: Southwestern Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/11/2023
Publication Date: 4/11/2023
Citation: Mornhinweg, D.W., Armstrong, J.S. 2023. Resistance to bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), in barley, Hordeum vulgare (L.). Southwestern Entomologist. 48(1):75-82. https://doi.org/10.3958/059.048.0107.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3958/059.048.0107

Interpretive Summary: Bird cherry-oat aphid (BCOA) is a serious pest of small grains world wide. Yield loss occurs both from aphid feeding and from its ability to efficiently vector the most serious disease of small grains, Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus. Damage from BCOA feeding is asymptomatic and making it difficult to identify resistance by traditional, fast, and effective seedling screening in the greenhouse. This study demonstrated that a modified screening technique identified resistance to BCOA and that resistance protected against yield loss.

Technical Abstract: Progeny from 24 spring barley, Hordeum vulgare L., lines identified with potential resistance to bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi L., (BCOA) from previous greenhouse screenings, were screened as seedlings in the greenhouse in 2014. Flats were rated on a scale of 1 to 4 when the susceptible checks, Morex, were dead. Even though some lines had many seedlings which survived, none were true breeding. Survivors from 3 sources, CI 1969, CI 1128, and STARS 9301B, and their non-infested controls were grown in the greenhouse in a randomized completer block design with 9 replications. Grain yield and yield components were measured to determine the accuracy of screening to identify meaningful resistance that is resistance in terms of grain yield. Although all three lines had significantly reduced seedling height and leaf number compared to their non infested controls at the time of rating, when grown to maturity their grain yield was not significantly different than that their respective controls. CI 1969 responded to infestation with significantly increased spikelets per spike and 100 kernel weight while CI 1128 responded with significantly increased 100 kernel weight. BCOA resistance identified by greenhouse seedling screening protected against loss of grain yield. All three lines can be utilized in breeding programs for resistance to BCOA.