Host plant resistance and linear furanocoumarin content of Apium accessions

Linear furanocoumarin contents and antibiotic resistance to Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were documented for Apium species being investigated in a celery breeding program. In no-choice tests, L. trifolii fed more, produced more offspring, and had the highest pupal and adult productivity on the widely planted cultivar 'Tall Utah' 52-70R (Apium graveolens L.). Antibiotic effects of the commercial cultivar 'Tall Utah' 52-70 HK and University of California families 87A-147 and 87A-338, derived from A. chilense Hook and Arn., were intermediate. Only A. nodiflorum (L.) Lag (accession 87A-236) did not allow survival beyond the larval stage. Concentrations of the carcinogenic and mutagenic linear furanocoumarins varied by location within plants (leaves usually greater than petioles), by specific compound (trend: psoralen less than xanthotoxin less than bergapten or isopimpinellin), and between accessions. A. nodiflorum had the lowest foliar levels of phototoxic furanocoumarins (11.8 micrograms/g fresh weight) and the best potential for use in the breeding program. Foliar levels of phototoxic furanocoumarins (psoralen, bergapten, and xanthotoxin) in plants 87A-147-3 (406 micrograms/g), 87A-147-2 (292.9 micrograms/g), and the family 87A-338 (265.9 micrograms/g) were 22.6, 16.3, and 14.8 times higher, respectively, than the concentration known to produce contact dermatitis (18 micrograms/g). Even with such variability in concentration, the foliar content of linear furanocoumarins (individually or total) and L. trifolii adult production were not correlated.