Resistance to three thrips species in <i>Capsicum</i> spp. depends on site conditions and geographic regions

Capsicum species are commercially grown for pepper production. This crop suffers severely from thrips damage and the identification of natural sources of thrips resistance is essential for the development of resistant cultivars. It is unclear whether resistance to Frankliniella occidentalis as assessed in a specific environment holds under different conditions. Additionally, other thrips species may respond differently to the plant genotypes. Screening for robust and general resistance to thrips encompasses testing different Capsicum accessions under various conditions and with different thrips species. We screened 11 Capsicum accessions (C. annuum and C. chinense) for resistance to F. occidentalis at three different locations in the Netherlands. Next, the same 11 accessions were screened for resistance to Thrips palmi and Scirtothrips dorsalis at two locations in Asia. This resulted in a unique analysis of thrips resistance in Capsicum at five different locations around the world. Finally, all accessions were also screened for resistance to F. occidentalis in the Netherlands using a leaf disc choice assay, allowing direct comparison of whole plant and leaf disc assays. Resistance to F. occidentalis was only partially consistent among the three sites in the Netherlands. The most susceptible accessions were consistently susceptible, but which accession was the most resistant differed among sites. In Asia, one C. chinense accession was particularly resistant to S. dorsalis and T. palmi, but this was not the most resistant accession to F. occidentalis. Overall, resistance to F. occidentalis correlated with S. dorsalis but not with T. palmi resistance in the C. annuum accessions. Damage inflicted on leaf discs reflected damage on the whole plant level. Our study showed that identifying broad spectrum resistance to thrips in Capsicum may prove to be challenging. Breeding programmes should focus on developing cultivars suitable for growing in defined geographic regions with specific thrips species and abiotic conditions

Emerging new poleroviruses and tospoviruses affecting vegetables in Asia and breeding for resistance

The diseases caused by aphid-borne poleroviruses (genus Polerovirus, family Luteoviridae) and thrips-borne tospoviruses (genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae) are emerging threats to the production of economically important vegetable and fruit crops in tropical and sub-tropical Asia. To date, at least 13 different polerovirus species have been characterized. In Asia, the reported poleroviruses include Cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus (CABYV), Melon aphid-borne yellows virus (MABYV) and Suakwa aphid-borne yellows virus (SABYV). Tospoviruses are even more diverse in Asia, infecting a broad range of crops. About 70% of the globally described tospovirus species have been reported causing significant yield losses in several countries in South and Southeast Asia. The development and implementation of effective management strategies to reduce the damage due to these insect-transmitted viruses is a major challenge to the vegetable industry. Host plant resistance breeding against polerovirus and tospovirus is the most effective and environmentally-friendly approach to address the long-term management of these viruses. The identification and characterization of new polerovirus and tospovirus species in the Philippines and Thailand are discussed and efforts to identify sources of resistance to these viruses and breeding for resistance are presented