Performance and feeding behaviour of two biotypes of the black currant-lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, on resistant and susceptible Lactuca sativa near-isogenic lines

The black currant-lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, is an important pest of cultivated lettuce, Lactuca sativa. Since 1982, the control of this aphid on lettuce is largely based on host plant resistance, conferred by the Nr gene, introgressed from Lactuca virosa. The resistance mechanism remains to be identified. N. ribisnigri populations virulent on the Nr-based resistance in lettuce have emerged in several locations in Europe since 2007. The objective of this study was to investigate the resistance mechanism mediated by the Nr gene in lettuce by detailed studies of aphid feeding behaviour and performance. Both avirulent (Nr:0) and virulent (Nr:1) biotypes of N. ribisnigri were studied on five resistant and two susceptible near isogenic lines (NILs). In addition, survival and colony development were quantified. Nr:0 aphids showed a strong decrease in sieve element ingestion and took longer to accept a sieve element on resistant NILs compared with susceptible NILs, and no aphids survived on the resistant NIL. Nr:1 aphids fed and performed equally well on the resistant and susceptible NILs. The resistance mechanism against Nr:0 aphids encoded by the Nr gene seems to be located in the phloem, although we also observed differences in feeding behaviour during the pathway phase to the phloem. Nr:1 aphids were highly virulent to the resistance conferred by the Nr gene. The consequences of the appearance of Nr:1 aphids for control of N. ribisnigri are discussed.