Summary
The potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas, is an important pest of tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., because it transmits tomato viruses and directly reduces crop yields by its feeding. This study was conducted to determine whether the wild tomato species, Lycopersicon pennellii (Corr.) D'Arcy, would be useful as a source of potato aphid resistance for tomato. Type IV trichome density and aphid resistance were assessed in six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1P1, and BC1P2) from crosses between L. pennellii (LA 716) and two tomato cultivars, New Yorker and VF Vendor. Weighted leastsquares were used in joint scaling tests to estimate the relative importance of gene effects on type IV trichome density and potato aphid resistance of the hybrids. A simple additive-dominance model adequately explained the variation in type IV trichome density. Models which included digenic epistatic effects were required to explain the variation in aphid resistance. Standard unit heritability estimates of aphid resistance in the backcross to L. esculentum were obtained by regression of BC1F2 off-spring families on BC1F1 parents. Regression coefficients and heritability estimates varied between years with the level and uniformity of the aphid infestation. In the 1985–1986 growing seasons, when aphid infestations were uniform, aphid resistance exhibited a moderate level of heritability (29.8% ± 14.1% and 47.1% ± 11.5% in New Yorker and VF Vendor backcross populations, respectively). The non-uniform aphid infestation of 1984 resulted in lower heritability estimates in the 1984–1985 growing seasons (16.1% ± 15.7% and 21.9% ± 14.8% in the New Yorker and VF Vendor backcross populations, respectively). Selection for potato aphid resistance would probably be most efficient if it were delayed until gene combinations are fixed in later generations, because of the large epistatic effects and the low heritability of this trait in seasons with variable aphid infestations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abernathy CO, Thurston R (1969) Plant age in relation to the resistance of Nicotiana to the green peach aphid. J Econ Entomol 62:1356–1359
Bauernfeind RJ, Chapman RK (1985) Nonstable parathion and endosulfan resistance in green peach aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae). J Econ Entomol 78:516–522
Fisher RA (1941) Average excess and average effect of a gene substitution. Ann Eugen 11:53–63
Frey KL, Horner T (1957) Heritability in standard units. Agron J 49:59–62
Gentile AG, Stoner AK (1968) Resistance in Lycopersicon and Solanum species to the potato aphid. J Econ Entomol 61:1152–1154
Goffreda JC (1988) Trichome mediated resistance to the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas, in Lycopersicon pennellii (Corr) D'Arcy and its hybrids with Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. PhD Diss, Cornell University, Ithaca/NY
Goffreda JC, Mutschler MA, Tingey WM (1988) Feeding behavior of potato aphid affected by glandular trichomes of wild tomato. Entomol Exp Appl 48:101–107
Hayman BI (1958) The separation of epistatic from additive and dominance variation in generation means. Heredity 12:371–390
Kennedy JS, Day MF, Eastop VF (1962) A conspectus of aphids as vectors of plant viruses. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, London, pp 114
Lange WH, Bronson L (1981) Insect pests of tomatoes. Annu Rev Entomol 26:345–371
Lemke CA, Mutschler MA (1984) Inheritance of glandular trichomes in crosses between Lycopersicon esculentum and L. pennellii. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 109:592–596
Luckwill LC (1943) The genus Lycopersicon: An historical, biological, and taxonomic survey of the wild and cultivated tomatoes. Aberdeen University Studies No. 120, Aberdeen University Press, Scotland, pp 44
Mather K, Jinks JL (1971) Biometrical genetics. The study of continuous variation. Cornell University Press, Ithaca/NY
McClanahan RJ, Founk J (1983) Toxicity of insecticides to the green peach aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) in laboratory and field tests, 1971–1982. J Econ Entomol 76:899–905
Miller RG, Jr (1981) Simultaneous statistical inference. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York (Springer series statistics)
Nanne HW, Radcliffe EB (1971) Green peach aphid populations on potatoes enhanced by fungicides. J Econ Entomol 64:1569–1570
Quiros CF, Stevens MA, Rick CM, Kok-Yokomi ML (1977) Resistance to the pink form of the potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas): The role of anatomy, epidermal hairs, and foliage composition. J Am Soc Horde Sci 102:166–171
Rowe KE, Alexander WL (1980) Computations for estimating the genetic parameters in joint-scaling tests. Crop Sci 20:109–110
Smith JD, Kinman ML (1965) The use of parent-offspring regression as an estimate of heritability. Crop Sci 5:595–596
Walker GP, Nault LR, Simonet DE (1984) Natural mortality factors acting on potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) populations in processing-tomato fields in Ohio. Environ Entomol 13:724–732
Weber G (1985) Population genetics of insecticide resistance in the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulz.) (Homoptera, Aphididae). Z Angew Entomol 99:408–421
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by A. R. Hallauer
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goffreda, J.C., Mutschler, M.A. Inheritance of potato aphid resistance in hybrids between Lycopersicon esculentum and L. pennellii . Theoret. Appl. Genetics 78, 210–216 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288801
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288801