Genetics of resistance to Aphis craccivora in cowpea

Summary Inheritance of aphid resistance and allelic relationships among sources of resistance was studied in the parents, F₁, F₂, F₃, and backcross populations of cowpea crosses. Each 4-day old seedling was infested with five fourthinstar aphids. Seedling reaction was recorded 14–16 days after infestation when the susceptible check was killed. The segregation data from eight crosses between resistant and susceptible cowpea cultivars indicated that aphid resistance was inherited as a monogenic dominant trait. Segregation data from crosses among eight resistant cultivars indicated that one or two loci and modifier(s) were involved in the expression of resistance to aphids. It was suggested that further studies on allelism among sources of resistance needed to be conducted in order to resolve this.