Alleles at a quantitative trait locus for stem solidness in wheat affect temporal patterns of pith expression and level of resistance to the wheat stem sawfly

The stem solidness trait in wheat has been the most effective mechanism for management of the wheat stem sawfly (WSS) for six decades. However, recent results have shown that in certain genotypes, the degree of stem solidness is not a useful indicator of WSS resistance. A morphological characterization of solidness expression indicated that in the genotype ‘Conan’, very solid pith undergoes rapid retraction during stem maturation, resulting in significantly less solidness at maturity. In other solid‐stemmed genotypes, including the standard WSS‐resistant cultivar ‘Choteau’, dense pith in the stem remains nearly unchanged throughout plant development. In cage trials, ‘Conan’ plants were less preferred for oviposition by the WSS when paired with ‘Choteau’ plants. Field bioassays using near‐isogenic lines differing for alleles at Qss.msub‐3BL showed that the Conan allele provides higher levels of early stem solidness and rapid pith retraction during stem maturation. These results suggest that the traditional approach for increasing WSS resistance by selecting for increasing stem solidness needs to be modified to consider temporal variations in pith expression associated with alleles at Qss.msub‐3BL.