Research inSolanum spp. of sources of resistance to the potato tuber mothPhthorimaea operculella (Zeller)

Summary The potato tuber moth (PTM) represents a dangerous pest on potato crop in Italy, spreading out from southern areas to central and northern areas. Introductions ofSolanum berthaultii, S. commersonii, S. pinnatisectum, S. sparsipilum, S. spegazzini, S. sucurense, S. tarijense wild species andS. tuberosum × S. berthaultii hybrids were evaluated for resistance to a PTM population isolated from a field in central Italy, by means of an antibiosis test on tubers in the laboratory and of an antixenosis trial in the field. SeveralS. sparsipilum andS. pinnatisectum clones showed an antibiosis effect on larval survival and antixenosis of the aerial and the hypogeal parts of the plant. In the field, the genotypes with leaf glandular trichomes did not revcal the expected antixenosis effect of the acrial part of the plant.