The corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea, is a major pest of corn, cotton, and several other crops grown in the United States. A corn breeding program was developed and conducted at Stoneville, MS, that was used to successfully move a new corn earworm resistance trait onto a high yielding inbred line. Castle-Wright was used to gain an initial estimate of the number of contributing genes. Additional crosses are being made to develop QTL's for this trait. Also, bioassays are being conducted with lyophilized tissue to ascertain the chemical factor(s) that confers resistance. Genetic markers are being developed to aid movement of the trait into sweet corn inbred lines where the trait would find its greatest utility.
Species 1: Lepidoptera Noctuidae Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm, bollworm)
Keywords: corn
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA