Abstract

CORTEZ-MADRIGAL, Hipólito. Resistance to insects of tomato grafted on wild relatives, with emphasis in Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc.) (Hemiptera: Psylidae). Bioagro [online]. 2010, vol.22, n.1, pp.11-16. ISSN 1316-3361.

To evaluate the resistance of grafted tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) on wild relatives to insect pests, with emphasis in the psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc.), laboratory and field studies were established from May 2006 to April 2007, in Jiquilpan, Michoacan, Mexico. Tomato cv. Rio Grande was grafted on the wild species S. lycopersicum var. Cerasiforme (“Tinguaraque”) collected in the study area. Three treatments were investigated: tomato grafted on Tinguaraque, own rooted tomato, and own rooted Tinguaraque. In laboratory, the plants were confronted with a known number of adults of B. cockerelli, and its preference for each plant was registered. The incidence of pests was also considered under field conditions. In laboratory, the results showed that the highest preference of the insects was for the own rooted tomato and the lowest for Tinguaraque. Under field conditions, the resistance of Tinguaraque (and tomato grafted on it) to B. cockerelli was also confirmed. Additionally, those treatments showed also resistance to Liriomyza spp. (Diptera: Agromyzidae), aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Only the bugs´s complex (Hemiptera) showed similar incidence among treatments. Apparently, the resistance of wild tomato was antixenosis type, but since it also was manifested in the grafting, it is probably that other types of resistance could be involved, even antibiosis. These results may be important for futures studies of tomato integrated pest management.

Keywords : Grafting; wild tomato; phytophagous insects.