Resistance to the Whitefly Aleurotrachelus socialis (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) and SSR Marker Identification in Advanced Populations of the Hybrid Manihot esculenta subsp. Manihot flabellifolia

Genes resistant to Aleurotrachelus socialis were transferred to the F₁ from the interspecific hybrid wild species of Manihot flabellifolia to M. esculenta and two advanced generations of backcrosses (BC₁ and BC₂). We characterized the resistance of A. socialis transferred to BC₂ parents (CW67-160, CW67-130, CW67-44), MTAI-8 (BC₁), resistant (CMB9B-73) and susceptible (CMB9B-104) genotypes from contrasting pools, and resistant (MEcu-72) and susceptible (CMC-40) genotypes. Whitefly demography and biology were evaluated. SSR molecular markers associated with a phenotypic response of plant resistance were detected in segregating populations (BC₂). Results showed that although female survival time was similar on all hosts, the lowest averages of longevity, fecundity and oviposition rate were observed in the resistant control MEcu-72, only being significantly similar to the parent CW67-130. When the BC₁ and BC₂ populations were compared, it was found that A. socialis fecundity was eight times lower on CMB9B-73 progeny than on CW67-130, expressing the highest levels of resistance to the whitefly. Ten genotypes of CMB9A and CMB9B family had the best segregation. A total of 486 microsatellite primers were evaluated using bulked segregant analysis (BSA), 11 showed polymorphism between the contrasting pools and only one showed significant differences between resistant and susceptible individuals. In conclusion, fecundity was the parameter that impacted most on the intrinsic rate of A. socialis population growth.