Abstract :
[en] The orange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), can significantly reduce
wheat yield. Growing resistant wheat cultivars is an effective way of managing
this pest. The assessment of cultivar resistance in field trials is difficult because of
unequal pressure of S. mosellana caused by differences in cultivar heading dates relative
to the flight period of S. mosellana adult females and huge variations of egg laying
conditions from 1 day to another. To overcome these hurdles and to expose all cultivars
homogeneously to the pest, an assessment method of cultivar resistance was
developed under semi-field conditions. In 2015, the resistance of 64 winter wheat
cultivars to S. mosellana was assessed. Few or no larvae developed in the ears of resistant
cultivars, but in susceptible cultivars, large numbers of larvae developed. Seventeen
cultivars proved to be resistant, whereas 47 were susceptible. The identification of
new resistant cultivars offers more opportunities to manage S. mosellana. The phenotyping
method is easy, cheap, efficient and reliable. It can be used to guide the breeding
of new resistant wheat cultivars. Using specific midge populations, this method
could also be used in research on new resistance mechanisms in winter wheat or in
other cereal species.
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