Host Preference of Myzus cerasi (Fabricius, 1775) to Half-sib Lines of Prunus avium L. from Six Populations Assessed in the Nursery Trial
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Abstract
Myzus cerasi Fabr. is a cosmopolitan species colonizing plants from families Cruciferae, Plantaginaceae, Rosaceae, Rubiaceae and Scrophulariaceae, as hosts. Myzus cerasi causes curling and distortion of the leaves by establishing large leaf nests colonies on top of shoots. It is very dangerous in nurseries and young plantations. We investigated host preference of Myzus cerasi to 49 half-sib lines of Prunus avium L. from six different populations based on the intensity of leaf damage. Populations of Prunus avium are Kalinovik, Višegrad, Milići, Ribnik, Prnjavor and Vlasenica, all from Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the results of hierarchical analysis of variance, the effect of differences between examined wild cherry populations were not significant, while the main contribution to the total expected variance was found for half-sib lines within populations (45.6%) and for plants within lines (52.5%). Out of 49 examined half-sib lines there were eleven lines that had less than 20% of damaged leaves, while there were no lines that had no damage. However, out of 432 examined plants, 49 of them had no damage from examined pest (11.3%), while 149 of examined plants (34.5%) had less than 20% of damaged leaves. Only populations Kalinovik and Ribnik had no lines with less than 20% of damaged leaves, while in every population there were found plants that were not damaged by pest. Gained data suggest that every examined population could be an object of selection for the tolerance on the attack of Myzus cerasi. Also, genotypes with no or tolerable damage might be vegetatively propagated and used in breeding programs.
Keywords: Prunus avium L., Myzus cerasi Fabr., pest tolerance, populations