Journal of Economic Entomology (1995) 88, 1477-1481

John W. Miles, Stephen L. Lapointe, Martha L. Escandón and Guillermo Sotelo (1995)
Inheritance of resistance to spittlebug (Homoptera: Cercopidae) in interspecific Brachiaria spp. hybrids
Journal of Economic Entomology 88 (5), 1477-1481
Abstract: Apomictic cultivars of several Brachiaria Griseb. spp., selected directly from collections of natural germplasm, are the most widely sown forages in the tropics. They are particularly well adapted to acid, infertile soils typical of the vast South American savannas. Species of several genera of spittlebugs (Cercopidae) cause widespread and severe damage to pastures of susceptible Brachiaria cultivars. Highly antibiotic genotypes have been identified. The potential for genetic manipulation of resistance in highly antibiotic genotypes was assessed. A positive correlation between topcross parent and F₁ family mean for percentage of adult emergence of Aeneolamia varia F. on artificially infested plants in the greenhouse indicated that resistance is under genetic control and should be easily manipulated in a plant breeding program. In a field study, heritability of spittlebug damage score on naturally infested, plants was estimated from replicated half-sib families. The estimate of heritability of half-sib family means was 0.44 (± 0.098) 5 mo after transplanting, further supporting the conclusion that resistance can be readily manipulated in a breeding program.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Stephen L. Lapointe

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Aeneolamia varia	Urochloa (crop)‎	Colombia