Abstract
Plant varieties resistant to insect pests are a critical component of integrated pest management, but challenges associated with plant breeding for insect resistance, such as a long breeding cycle duration and low trait heritability, slow progress in the field. In this study, we tested two novel selection schemes to improve genetic gain for resistance to the major pest, the striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum), in squash (Cucurbita pepo, e.g., zucchini). First, we tested an indirect selection scheme using a proxy insect with correlated resistance phenotypes, Trichoplusia ni, in place of the seasonally available A. vittatum. We found that while resistance to herbivory by T. ni was heritable, there was no reciprocal benefit for resistance to A. vittatum. Second, we tested genomic selection, a method that allows for selection without phenotyping every generation, for both resistance to A. vittatum directly and resistance to the proxy T. ni. Although there was moderate genomic predictive ability, we did not observe realized gains from selection in field trials. Overall, strategies that minimize investment in direct phenotyping, leverage efficiencies from phenotyping correlated traits, and shorten breeding cycle duration are needed to develop insect resistant varieties, and this study provides examples and empirical data of two such approaches deployed in an applied breeding program.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Resistance to Trichoplusia ni herbivory was heritable.
Verbatim
e0“resistance to herbivory by T. ni was heritable”
t0“Squash”
Claim · model-written summary
Proxy selection conferred no reciprocal benefit for A. vittatum resistance.
- Taxon
- squasht0
- Interactor
- A. vittatum
Acalymma vittatume0pest - Outcome
- no reciprocal benefit for resistance to A. vittatume0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“there was no reciprocal benefit for resistance to A. vittatum.”
t0“Squash”
Claim · model-written summary
Genomic selection had moderate predictive ability.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“there was moderate genomic predictive ability”
t0“Squash”
Claim · model-written summary
Genomic selection produced no realized gains in field trials.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“we did not observe realized gains from selection in field trials.”
t0“Squash”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend shorter breeding cycles and efficient correlated trait phenotyping.
Verbatim
e0“strategies that minimize investment in direct phenotyping, leverage efficiencies from phenotyping correlated traits, and shorten breeding cycle duration are needed to develop insect resistant varieties”
t0“Squash”