Resistance Sources to Psylla Sp.

Susceptibility of European pear germplasm to Cacopsylla pyri under Mediterranean climatic conditions

“…All together the number of slightly susceptible cultivars were as much as 91 of the 160 ones investigated (Table 7). Large part of them were ancient cultivars of Italian origin, among them it is worth mentioning the interesting early ripening 'Precoce di Altedo' and 'Precoce di Fiorano', the late ripening 'Bella Angevina', 'Spadona' and 'Ammazzacavallo', the Tuscan 'Giugnolina', abundantly producing small and very aromatic fruits, 'Spadoncina' largely cultivated in the past in Southern Italy and still appreciated for fruit quality on local markets, and the famous 'Spina Carpi' also listed as highly tolerant by Braniste et al (1994), Quarta and Puggioni (1985), Robert and Raimbault (2005) and Sestras et al (2009). This group also includes the French late ripening 'Passe Crassane' and the commercially grown 'Abbé Fétel', 'Coscia', and 'Beurré Hardy', which on the contrary have been described as highly susceptible by other authors (Quarta and Puggioni, 1985;Stamenković et al, 1994).…”

“…Since the 1980s the creation of new pear cultivars with resistance to psylla has been included as an important objective in some European pear breeding programs (Italy: DCA-BO, ISF-Forlì, DISPAA-FI; France: INRA; Romania: RIFG -Pitesti-Maracineni; see references for definition of abbreviations) (Rivalta and Dradi, 1998;Bellini et al, 2000;Musacchi et al, 2005;Lespinasse et al, 2008); unfortunately the rapid transfer of resistance into cultivars with Pyrus communis type fruit is limited by the negative fruit characteristics (small size and/or gritty and course texture) of both East Asian pear species (P. ussuriensis, P. pyrifolia, P. longipes, P. serotina or P. betulaefolia) and interspecific hybrids between P. communis and P. ussuriensis, although these last have shown high levels of resistance to C. pyri (Braniste et al, 1994;Berrada et al, 1995;Bellini and Nin, 2002;Robert et al, 2004;Nin et al, 2012). The transfer of resistance to C. pyri by interspecific crosses between the European pear species P. communis and Asian pear species such as P. ussuriensis and P. serotina followed by modified backcross to part of the progeny was demonstrated to be possible (Pasqualini et al, 2006), but it occurs gradually and it is probably controlled by several genes.…”

“…The transfer of resistance to C. pyri by interspecific crosses between the European pear species P. communis and Asian pear species such as P. ussuriensis and P. serotina followed by modified backcross to part of the progeny was demonstrated to be possible (Pasqualini et al, 2006), but it occurs gradually and it is probably controlled by several genes. Many seedlings and selections have been obtained by the European genetic pear breeding programs, nevertheless, up to now only one promising advanced selection derived from a cross between 'NY 10353' and 'Doyenné du Comice' is under evaluation in Italy at the DCA-BO (Musacchi et al, 2005) and two new resistant cultivars have been obtained in Romania: 'Euras' from the interspecific hybridization of P. serotina and 'Oliver de Serres' and backcross with 'Doyenné d'Hiver', and 'Haydeea' from the intraspecific hybridization of 'Beurré Hardy' and 'Buerré Six' (Braniste et al, 1994).…”

“…Most of these studies were based on field observations (Benedek et al, 2010;Berrada et al, 1995;Bouvier et al, 2011;Braniste et al, 1994;Briolini et al, 1989;Quarta and Puggioni, 1985;Robert et al, 1999;Robert and Raimbault, 2005;Sestras et al, 2009;Stamenković et al, 1994;Szabó et al, 2010), while only few studies were made by the introduction of psylla nymphs or adults in a mesh covered tunnel containing the pear plants (Baldassarri et al, 1996;Pasqualini et al, 2006;Robert et al, 2004). On the contrary, nearly all studies performed in USA on C. pyricola resistance were carried out in the laboratory by rearing psylla nymphs on plant material (Bell, 1984(Bell, , 1992(Bell, , 2003(Bell, , 2013Bell and Stuart, 1990;Berrada et al, 1995;Butt et al, 1988Butt et al, , 1989Puterka et al, 1993;Quamme, 1984).…”

“…In many countries ex situ pear collections have been established in some important pear growing areas including a great diversity of local, national and foreign cultivars, mainly for evaluation of resistance to major diseases and insects, to be used as potential parents in breeding (Quarta and Puggioni, 1985;Braniste et al, 1994;Braniste and Militaru, 2008;Benedek et al, 2010). The aim of this study was to classify, in the frame of AGER project 'INNO-VAPERO: Management and crop innovations for high-quality pear production', European pear germplasm according to its tolerance or susceptibility to C. pyri using phenotypical screenings and allocate resistant individuals with acceptable fruit quality to be used in future breeding programs or exploited in organic farming.…”