Epsilon Open Archive

Abstract

Wheat is one of the main staple foods in the world. Among the many constraints there are for wheat production, aphids cause severe damage by their feeding, and by virus transmission. The current document summarizes the available information regarding wheat resistance to aphids. The text is divided into four sections. The first section “Plant resistance to insects: from a historical perspective” serves as an introduction, where some important factors shaping Plant Resistance to insects as a discipline are presented. The section “Categories of resistance and plant defenses to aphids”, presents the concepts of Plant Resistance to insects, with wheat-aphid examples. The methods to assess the categories of resistance are briefly discussed in this section as well. “Genetic resources for resistance to aphids in wheat”, the third part of the document, is focused on the wheat relatives in which resistance to biotic stresses and to aphids in particular can be found. The aim of this section is to describe the resistance donors in relation to each of the main aphid species that attack wheat. Finally, some aspects on how to improve wheat for resistance to aphids are discussed in the fourth section, “Considerations for wheat breeding”.