Rothamsted Research appealed for growers and agronomists to send in aphid samples taken from wheat crops at Cereals 2025.

Researchers developing species-specific pest management solutions are building a picture of the geographical distribution of viral and endosymbiont (bacterial) load in aphids.

The aim is to map both virus distribution and endosymbiont presence in aphids, explained Rothamsted Research plant virologist Dr Lawrence Bramham, so that novel, nature-friendly control methods can be developed.

“Understanding more about viral load will help with barley yellow dwarf virus control strategies by highlighting the risk by area,” he said.

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“For anyone who isn’t familiar with endosymbionts, they are bacteria that live inside insects and help their host survive in the environment. They are often referred to as the insect’s microbiome.”

© Louise Impey

Knowing more about bacteria in aphids may allow very specific targeting with anti-bacterials in the future, as non-target species would be unaffected, he explained.

Once the samples are received, researchers will extract DNA/RNA from the aphids to determine viral and endosymbiont load, with at least 10 aphids needed in each sample for testing.

Prepaid envelopes containing plastic tubes were distributed at Cereals, along with instructions for sampling.

“Just remove the infested leaf or ear containing aphids and place it in the tube,” Lawrence advised. “We only want one leaf or ear per tube.”

Growers are being asked to supply sampling date, sampling location, name of the wheat variety and date of the most recent insecticide application with each sample – with Rothamsted Research happy to send them the results from their samples.

“We need growers and agronomists’ help with this if we are going to come up with new solutions to pest management,” added Lawrence.