Differences in Myzus persicae resistance to insecticides

The green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) is a polyphagous species which can feed on the sap of more than fifty different plants. It can cause significant damage to crops, mainly by transmitting viruses to host plants. Myzus persicae is mainly controlled by application of chemical plant protection products, but resistance to most of these products has arised. 

A study conducted by scientists from ANSES, Inrae and the University of Montpellier and published in May 2022 analysed the diversity and genetic structure of aphid populations collected in France on peach trees, rapeseed and tobacco. The results showed a clear genetic differentiation between the aphids collected on peach trees and those living on rapeseed and tobacco, which implied a limited gene flow between the three subgroups corresponding to the three crops. Similarly, resistance combinations are very different between genetic groups. Aphids sampled from peach trees were frequently resistant to neonicotinoids, while aphids sampled from rapeseed and tobacco very often carried alleles conferring resistance to pyrethroids and carbamates, but were not resistant to neonicotinoids. Resistance alleles were therefore not exchanged between these genetic groups. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this limitation of gene mixing, linked to the type of reproduction of aphids and/or their adaptation to host plants.

This study highlights the importance of taking into account the agronomic landscape and in particular the species of the host plant, in the management of the resistance to plant protection products and more generally in effective control strategies against polyphagous insects.

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