Variation between Ethiopian and North American Barley Varieties (Hordeum vulgare) in Response to Russian Wheat Aphid (Diuraphis noxia) populations

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), causes severe damage to barley, Hordeum vulgare L. (Poales: Poaceae), in the highlands of Ethiopia. Little information is available on the control of this pest in Ethiopia. An experiment aimed at evaluating the resistance of barley varieties from the USA to D. noxia populations and determining biotypic variation between Ethiopian and North American D. noxia populations was conducted. The D. noxia-resistant barley varieties Burton and RWA-1758 from the USA, the resistant barley line 3296-15 from Ethiopia, and a local Ethiopian susceptible variety were included in a randomized design in a greenhouse under natural light conditions. There were highly significant differences (P < 0.001) in the mean D. noxia population, leaf chlorosis, leaf rolling, plant stunting, number of tillers per plant, and the percentage of infested tillers per plant between the resistant and susceptible varieties. The aphid population per tiller was lower on the resistant barley plants than on the susceptible plants. Severe plant damage was observed on the local barley variety, while the least damage was observed on Burton, followed by RWA-1758. Burton and RWA-1758 were therefore highly resistant and moderately resistant, respectively, to the northern Ethiopian D. noxia populations, indicating similarities in biotypes between the United States and northern Ethiopian D. noxia populations. The damage to variety 3296-15 was greater than to Burton and RWA-1758. Leaf chlorosis scores and leaf rolling scores for variety 3296-15 upon treatment with the north Ethiopian D. noxia population indicate likely biotypic variation between D. noxia populations of northern and central Ethiopia.