Bioassay for assessing resistance of Arabidopsis thaliana L. (Heynh.) to the adult crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

A bioassay arena and a laboratory screening protocol were developed for assessing lines of Arabidopsis thaliana L. (Heynh.) for feeding damage by the adult crucifer flea beetle, Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze). The arena consists of a 96-well rnicrotitre plate with a modified top to contain flea beetles and allow ventilation. Eight lines of A. thaliana, arranged in an 8 x 8 Latin square design, were screened simultaneously in each arena using 50 starved flea beetles. Two cotyledons and the first pair of true leaves per plant were rated visually under a dissecting microscope using a visual damage rating scale. The protocol was used to screen 29 wild ecotypes, eight mutant lines and a single transgenic line of A. thaliana. Discrimination between both cotyledon and leaf tissue was apparent for young beetles that were both non-reproductive or reproductive, but not for old reproductive beetles. Differences were observed between Asian and European ecotypes of A. thaliana, suggesting that geographic origin may play a role in susceptibility of Arabidopsis ecotypes to flea beetle feeding. The transparent testa regulatory gene mutants (lines 82, 111, 164) were most susceptible to flea beetle feeding, possibly indicating a role for anthocyanins and/or flavonoids in governing a flea beetle susceptibility. Significant variation in damage levels indicates that expression of flea beetle resistance in the Arabidopsis genome is plastic, and that potential exists to use the wide array of publicly available Arabidopsis germplasm as tools in the transfer of resistance to agronomically important host plants.