Screening Onion Plant Introduction Accessions for Tolerance to Onion Thrips and Iris Yellow Spot

Abstract

Iris yellow spot is an economically important disease of onion that reduces bulb size and yield and is difficult to control. The disease is spread by Thrips tabaci (onion thrips) and disease symptoms are exacerbated by hot, dry climatic conditions that also favor rapid thrips multiplication and make control programs less effective. Currently, no onion cultivar is resistant to the disease and/or thrips. Certain onion foliar characteristics have shown nonpreferential feeding activity by thrips and may be the first step in developing Iris yellow spot (IYS)-tolerant onion cultivars. Seventy-five onion PI accessions from the U.S. germplasm collection were evaluated for leaf color, waxiness (bloom), and axil pattern; thrips number per plant; and IYS disease severity under conditions that favored thrips and disease buildup. Plants of PI 289689 were less attractive to thrips and had a lower number of thrips per plant than plants of most other accessions. These plants were rated as having light green to green-colored foliage and a relatively low amount of epicuticular leaf wax. Plants of PIs 239633 and 546192 generally exhibited less severe IYS disease symptoms than those of other accessions. Individual plants, that exhibited less leaf area exhibiting IYS disease symptoms, were selected at bulb maturity from 22 different accessions with PI 546140 producing the largest number of selected bulbs. Physiological plant development, environmental conditions, and tolerance to plant stress may influence the degree of disease symptom expression. Further work that examines the role of plant maturity and host plant tolerance to stress with respect to disease expression is needed.