Effect of aerial spray adjuvant applying on the efficiency of small unmanned aerial vehicle for wheat aphids control

Small unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs)have been widely used in different aspects of modern farming management,including pest and disease control in China in recent years.In this study,the spray performance of a small plant protection UAV at low volume spray was evaluated by adjusting the pesticide dosage and adding aerial spraying adjuvants.Droplet deposition,droplet density,coverage,control effect and pesticide residue from field trials were assessed.In addition,the residue and control effect of UAV spray were compared to manual knapsack at high volume spray.The results showed that,the adjuvant applying improved the efficiency of UAV spray.Also,the adjuvant applying reduced the dosage of imidacloprid by 20%.However,there was no significant difference on initial residue between UAV spray and knapsack spray.Thus,plant protection UAV spraying pesticide by adding appropriate adjuvant showed the ability of improving the pesticide effectiveness by improving the control efficiency,reducing the pesticide dosage and residue.

Transgenic Expression of a Functional Fragment of Harpin Protein Hpa1 in Wheat Represses English Grain Aphid Infestation

The harpin protein Hpa1 produced by the rice bacterial blight pathogen promotes plant growth and induces plant resistance to pathogens and insect pests. The region of 10-42 residues （Hpa110-42） in the Hpa1 sequence is critical as the isolated Hpa110-42 fragment is 1.3-7.5-fold more effective than the full length in inducing plant growth and resistance. Here we report that transgenic expression of Hpa110-42 in wheat induces resistance to English grain aphid, a dominant species of wheat aphids. Hpa110-42-induced resistance is effective to inhibit the aphid behavior in plant preference at the initial colonization stage and repress aphid performances in the reproduction, nymph growth, and instar development on transgenic plants. The resistance characters are correlated with enhanced expression of defense-regulatory genes （EIN2, PP2-A, and GSL10） and consistent with induced expression of defense response genes （Hel, PDF1.2, PR-1b, and PR-2b）. As a result, aphid infestations are alleviated in transgenic plants. The level of Hpa110-42-induced resistance in regard to repression of aphid infestations is equivalent to the effect of chemical control provided by an insecticide. These results suggested that the defensive role of Hpa110-42 can be integrated into breeding germplasm of the agriculturally signiifcant crop with a great potential of the agricultural application.

Field Screening of Lesotho and South African Wheat Cultivars for Russian Wheat Aphid Resistance

Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) is an international wheat pest and was first recorded in South Africa in 1978 in the Bethlehem area in the Eastern Free State. Le-sotho lies adjacent to one of the largest wheat producing areas in South Africa, the Eastern Free State, where winter wheat and facultative types are cultivated under dry land conditions. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important crop adapted to all agro-ecological zones of Lesotho. Russian wheat aphid may have a significant impact on wheat yield. No monitoring or pest control is being done in Lesotho and at this stage there is very little information on the Russian wheat aphid resistance of wheat culti-vars cultivated in Lesotho. In view of this it is important to monitor the distribution of Russian wheat aphid biotypes in Lesotho and determine the level of Russian wheat aphid resistance in local Lesotho wheat cultivars. Two local Lesotho wheat cultivars, Bolane and Makalaote were screened together with South African cultivars Elands, Matlabas, Senqu, PAN3379, PAN3118 and SST387, in the glasshouse against all four known biotypes that occur in South Africa. All these cultivars were also planted in 5 m plots in the field at two localities Leribe and Roma in the lowlands of Lesotho. These cultivars were screened in the field for Russian wheat aphid resistance. The predomi-nant Russian wheat aphid biotypes in these areas were also determined. The Lesotho cultivar, Bolane had resistance against RWASA2 in the glasshouse, while Makalaote did not have any Russian wheat aphid resistance in either the glasshouse or field screenings. To contribute to food security an increasing wheat yield potential is a high priority. Russian wheat aphid has been included in the list of important international cereal pests. Russian wheat aphid adapts to changing environments and taking their ecology, distribution, virulence patterns, and variability into account is important in minimizing the gap between actual and attainable yields. Current management prac-tices for winter wheat in South Africa include the use of resistant cultivars, which is the most economical management strategy for Russian wheat aphid. Introducing Russian wheat aphid resistant cultivars in Lesotho will improve overall yield and as a result food security. This will also result in lower Russian wheat aphid pest pressure in the adjacent wheat production areas in the Eastern Free State, South Africa.

Resistance in Barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i>L.) to New Invasive Aphid, Hedgehog Grain Aphid (<i>Sipha maydis</i>, Passerini) (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Sipha maydis Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is a pest of cereals in many regions of the world and was identified as an invasive pest of the US in 2007. Regional surveys from 2015-2017 revealed this pest was broadly distributed throughout many of the western Great Plains states where it is a potential threat to cereal production. The common name hedgehog grain aphid, HGA, has been associated with Sipha maydis in the US. Cross-resistance where a plant is resistant to one aphid species and is also resistant to another species that is known to occur. Six barleys were evaluated for cross-resistance to HGA: Russian wheat aphid, RWA, resistant germplasms STARS 9301B and STARS 9577B and cultivar “Mesa”;greenbug, GB, resistant germplasm STARS 1501B and cultivar “Post 90”;and RWA and GB resistant experimental line 00BX 11-115. Cultivars “Morex” and “Schuyler” were susceptible controls. Antixenosis was measured 5 days after infestation by HGA. Seedling damage ratings and reductions in seedling growth were recorded after 17 days of infestation. Intrinsic rate of increase, rm, of HGA was determined by following the development of newborn aphids to adulthood and reproduction. 00BX 11-115 and Post 90 had significantly greater antixenosis (fewer aphids/seedling), significantly lower plant damage ratings, and significantly lower intrinsic rates of increase than other entries. Differences in seedling growth were not significant. 00BX 11-115 and Post 90 were the only entries with the Rsg1 greenbug resistance gene. Rsg1 greenbug resistance confers cross-resistance to HGA in the seedling stage.

Polymorphisms in salivary-gland transcripts of Russian wheat aphid biotypes 1 and 2

The Russian wheat aphid （RWA）, Diuraphis noxia （Mordvilko） （Homoptera： Aphididae）, is a major pest of small grains. As with plant-feeding aphids in general, the interaction between RWA and host plants is governed, on the insect side, by proteins and enzymes in saliva. In this work, we examined sequence variations in transcripts encoding proteins and enzymes of RWA salivary glands. We conducted reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction in RWA biotypes 1 and 2 using primers derived from pea aphid orthologs, and cloned regions of 17 putative salivary gland transcripts. For four of the transcripts, we observed no difference in sequences between the two biotypes. For the other 13 transcripts, for example, the transcripts encoding sucrase, trehalase and protein C002, large amount of variations, both within each biotype and between the two biotypes, were observed. Usually the two biotypes shared only one variant, which was typically the most common variant in both biotypes. Most of the transcripts had more non-synonymous than synonymous codon changes among their variants. Our results offer possible molecular markers for distinguishing the two biotypes and insights into their evolution.

Induced life cycle transition from holocycly to anholocycly of the Russian wheat aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae)

The Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko),exists with holocyclic life cycle in Tacheng, Xinjiang in Northwest China. It produces males and oviparae to mate and oviposit for overwintering by eggs. Under laboratory conditions with 14 h/d photophase and temperature not lower than 15℃, RWA occurred in parthenogenesis and produced no males. The laboratory popu-lations of Russian wheat aphid, which were kept under natural conditions in fall by 15th, 49th and 81st generation while wild populations produced males and oviparae for mating, produced males and oviparae with their number decreased gradually, but viviparae and nymphs increased sequen-tially. As a result, it produced a small amount of oviparae and no males emerged in fields by 49 generations' reproduction in laboratory. After development of 81 generations, oviparae happened occasionally and no eggs occurred for overwintering instead of viviparae and nymphs. A hypothesis of RWA disastrous process was proposed. The life cycle of RWA can be changed from holocycly to anholocycly in its long-term spread and evolution. Anholocycly is more dangerous than holocycly to small grains for its strong adaptability and dispersal ability.

Fitness traits and underlying genetic variation related to host plant specialization in the aphid Sitobion avenae

Sitobion avenae （E） is an important cereal pest worldwide that can survive on various plants in the Poaceae, but divergent selection on different host plants shouldpromote the evolution of specialized genotypes or host races. In order to evaluate their resource use strategies, clones of S. avenae were collected from oat and barley. Host-transfer experiments for these clones were conducted in the laboratory to compare their fitness traits. Our results demonstrated that barley clones had significantly lower fecundityand tended to have longer developmental times when transferred from barley to oat. However, oat clones developed faster after they were transferred to barley. Clones fromoat and barley had diverged to a certain extent in terms of fecundity and developmental time of the nymphs. The separation of barley clones and oat clones of S. avenae was alsoevident in a principal component analysis. Barley clones tended to have higher broad-sense heritabilities for fitness traits than oat clones, indicating the genetic basis of differentiationbetween them. Barley clones showed significantly higher extent of specialization compared to oat clones from two measures of specialization （i.e., Xsp and Ysp）. Therefore, barleyclones were specialized to a certain extent, but oat clones appeared to be generalized. The fitness of S. avenae clones tended to increase with higher extent of specialization. Theevolution toward ecological specialization in S. avenae clones, as well as the underlying genetic basis, was discussed.