Abstract
Drought stress on plants can cause cellular water deficits and influence the physiology of host plants, which alter the performance of insect pests. This study was conducted to determine the effect of drought and aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer) infestation on three potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) genotypes under greenhouse conditions. A factorial experiment involving three potato genotypes, two levels of drought, and two levels of aphid infestation was conducted. The potato genotypes possessed different levels of tolerance to drought and are described as tolerant (Qingshu 9), moderately tolerant (Longshu 3), and sensitive (Atlantic). Sixty-day-old potato plants were infested with aphid nymphs and monitored for 20 d. There was a significant variety × drought × aphid interaction effect on the parameters measured. The genotype Atlantic, which is sensitive to drought, exhibited greater tolerance to aphid infestation under drought or no drought conditions than the other genotypes. This genotype also exhibited poor host acceptance and the aphid survival rate, colonization success, and average daily reproduction were low. Qingshu 9, which is tolerant to drought, was highly susceptible to aphid infestation and exhibited high host acceptance and greater aphid survival rate, colonization success, and average daily reproduction compared to the other genotypes. This study demonstrates that the biochemical and morphological traits that confer drought tolerance in potato do not necessarily confer aphid tolerance.
Highlights
The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer, which has special adaptation features, such as the ability to adapt to the wide genetic variation of host plants, is an important crop pest that attacks more than 400 plant species across the globe [1]
Host acceptance, survival, colonization success, and average daily reproduction of aphids were higher on the drought-free plants
Host acceptance was not affected (p = 0.06) by the genotype × drought interaction, it was highest on Qingshu 9 (QS9) under no drought (87.7%) and under drought (67.2%) and least on DXY (63.3 and 48.8%, respectively) (Figure 1a)
Summary
The green peach aphid, Myzus persicae Sulzer, which has special adaptation features, such as the ability to adapt to the wide genetic variation of host plants, is an important crop pest that attacks more than 400 plant species across the globe [1]. The performance of M. persicae on plants exposed to drought seems to vary among plant species [2]. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the populations of M. persicae increased when the plants were exposed to drought stress [3]. In Brassica oleracea (cabbage), conflicting results were reported, as aphid abundance increased under drought in one experiment [4]. Drought is one of the major challenges facing crop production and about 40% of the world’s agricultural land is found in arid or semi-arid regions [6]. Drought stress on plants can cause cellular
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