Resistance to Lettuce Aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri) Biotype 0 in Wild Lettuce Accessions PI 491093 and PI 274378

Abstract

The lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri Mosley (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a major insect pest of lettuce, Lactuca sativa L, in many commercial lettuce production areas around the world. Resistance to lettuce aphid biotype 0 (Nr:0) was first reported in Lactuca virosa L. accession IVT 280 and characterized as complete, i.e., virtually no aphids survived, and genetically dominant to partial resistance in L. virosa accession IVT 273. Complete and partial resistances to Nr:0 were conditioned by two alleles, Nr (complete resistance) and nr (partial resistance), but the genetic relationship to susceptibility was not reported. We previously reported two new potential sources of unique genes for resistance to Nr:0 in Lactuca serriola L. accession PI 491093 and L. virosa PI 274378. We report on the genetic and phenotypic nature of resistance to Nr:0 in these two wild lettuce accessions. Resistance to Nr:0 in PI 274378 is complete and allelic to complete resistance in IVT 280. Resistance to Nr:0 in PI 491093 was partial, recessive to complete resistance in ‘Barcelona’ that was derived from IVT 280, but dominant to susceptibility in ‘Salinas’. We propose the revised gene symbols for resistance to Nr:0: Nr:0C for complete resistance and Nr:0P for partial resistance, which was originally designated as nr but may now be regarded as the symbol for susceptibility to all strains of lettuce aphid. The dominance relationships among these three alleles are Nr:0C (in IVT 280, ‘Barcelona’) > Nr:0P (in PI 491093) > nr (in susceptible genotypes). Expression of partial resistance in PI 491093 was variable in controlled infestation tests, but in a naturally infested field test provided a potentially useful level of resistance to Nr:0. Partial resistance, where complete resistance has not been widely deployed, may either alone or as a component of integrated pest management delay or prevent emergence of genotypes that overcome complete resistance controlled by Nr:0C.