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Resistance

Aphid Feeding Behavior: Relationship to Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus Resistance in Agropyron Species. Richard H. Shukle, Research entomologists, USDA-ARS, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; David J. Lampe(2), Richard M. Lister(3), and John E. Foster(4). (2)Graduate research assistant, Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; (3)Professor, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907; (4)Research entomologists, USDA-ARS, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Phytopathology 77:725-729. Accepted for publication 21 October 1986. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1987. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-77-725.

The infectibility of various Agropyron species (wheatgrasses) was examined with respect to three isolates of barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) by infesting them with appropriate vector aphids, followed by testing by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Feeding behavior of the vectors Rhopalosiphum padi and Sitobion avenae was also electronically monitored to determine their ability to inoculate phloem. The results indicated that resistance to BYDV infection occurs in several Agropyron species. For most species tested, resistance seemed due to failure in virus increase, but in some species a major constraint on infection was the inability of vectors to locate phloem. Two potential approaches to breeding for reduced BYDV in wheat by crossing with Agropyron species may thus be: incorporating factors reducing or preventing virus production and incorporating factors reducing the ability of vectors to inoculate plants successfully.