A novel pre-breeding strategy to reduce dependence on insecticides for virus yellows control in sugar beet

甜菜中的病毒黄化是英国比欧洲其他任何地方都严重的问题，因为我们的海洋性气候有利于蚜虫媒介。英国甜菜产业每年在杀虫剂(种子处理和叶面喷雾)上的投资高达700万GB，如果没有这些杀虫剂，病毒黄化可能导致每年高达1000万GB的损失。欧盟最近对新烟碱使用的限制以及欧洲对蚜虫的抗药性的发展，可能会显著增加英国种植的甜菜的病毒黄化，使英国甜菜在世界市场上的竞争力下降。因此，培育抗病毒黄化甜菜是至关重要的。我们已经鉴定出野生甜菜能抵抗病毒黄化的影响，并将这一特性杂交到甜菜中。我们建议通过将我们的抗病品系与现代育种品种杂交来进一步发展这种抗性，并对我们的新品种进行严格的抗病毒黄化、植物活力和产糖量测试。这一为期5年的前期育种项目将加快甜菜抗病毒黄化新品种的生产，为英国和欧洲带来显著的经济和环境效益。

Virus yellows in sugar beet is a greater problem in the UK than anywhere else in Europe because of our maritime climate, which favours the aphid vector. The UK beet industry invests up to £7M annually on insecticides (seed treatments and foliar sprays) for aphid control, without which virus yellows could cause losses of up to £10million/year. Recent EU restrictions on neonicotinoid use and the development of insecticide resistance in aphids in Europe, threatens to significantly increase virus yellows in UK-grown sugar beet, making the UK crop less competitive in world markets. Development of sugar beet resistant to virus yellows is therefore critical. We have identified wild beet that are resistant to the effects of virus yellows and have crossed this trait into sugar beet. We propose to develop this resistance further by crossing our resistant lines with modern breeding varieties and carry out rigorous testing of our new varieties for virus yellows resistance, plant vigour and sugar yield. This 5yr pre-breeding project will accelerate the production of new virus yellows resistant sugar beet varieties, bringing significant economic and environmental benefits to the UK and Europe.