Influence of Heterodera avenae on winter wheat in France: experiments with resistant and susceptible varieties

A succession of oat crops resistant or susceptible to Heterodera avenue produced plots lightly or moderately infested with the pest with little risk of interaction with other soil pathogens in succeeding cereal crops. Using these plots, the effects of the nematode on growth and yield of winter wheat were studied. The nematode affected the crop throughout its development, with a marked effect on yield. The effects of H. avenue are similar to those of water stress and are accentuated to a greater or lesser extent by climatic conditions. In the field the efficacy and durability of resistant genes incorporated in wheat and oats were checked. After four-years' cultivation of oats (cv. Panema), no resistance-breaking pathotypes were detected. Some advanced wheat lines with nematode resistance were also tolerant of nematode attack.