Potential of Insect Vector Screening Method for Development of Durable Resistance Cultivars to Rice yellow mottle virus Disease

The study aimed to investigate the potential of insect vector Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) cultivar screening method. Screening rice cultivars against RYMV under artificial conditions is usually carried out inside the screen house by mechanical inoculation of RYMV isolates. Such an approach may be highly criticized as not fully representative of how RYMV disease is spread or transmitted under field conditions. Consequently, the potential of three RYMV insect vectors, Oxya hyla, Locris rubra and chnootriba similes, was evaluated in comparing the cultivar screening method with mechanical transmission using eight differential rice genotypes against a highly virulent RYMV Nigerian isolate. The study revealed that each of the three insect vector methods is different from the mechanical transmission method and all methods screened rice cultivars in the same way. This study revealed the potential of the insect vector screening method to provide a basis not only for the development of durable resistant cultivars to RYMV disease but also for further investigation on vectors, virus and plants interaction.