ARS Develops Leafminer-Resistant Lettuce

Crispy green lettuce leaves are top choices not only by salad lovers but also by troublesome insects known as leafminers (Liriomyza langei). Adult leafminers puncture lettuce leaves to feed on the sap. Females, on the other hand, lay eggs on leaf tissues. Worm-like larvae hatch from the eggs and feed on the upper and lower surface of the leaves, making distinctive winding, whitish mine-like tunnels. To combat the destructive pest, scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) developed the world's first leafminer-resistant green leaf lettuce.

Beiquan Mou and Edward Ryder screened more than 100 kinds of lettuce from ARS' lettuce collection. In addition to its leafminer resistance, the attractive, robust new lettuce can shrug off attacks by lettuce mosaic virus. This disease, spread by green peach aphids (Myzus persicae), gives leaves a sickly mottled or mosaic appearance, rendering the lettuce unmarketable.

Read the complete article at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/081201.htm