Resistance of wild Lactuca genetic resources to diseases and pests, and their exploitation in lettuce breeding

The reported variation in the reaction of wild Lactuca species to pathogens and pests is summarized, including viral pathogens (e.g. Lettuce mosaic virus NDASH LMV, Mirafiori lettuce virus/Lettuce big vein virus NDASH LBVV, Cucumber mosaic virus NDASH CMV), bacterial pathogens (corky root NDASH Rhizomonas suberifaciens, bacterial leaf spot NDASH Xanthomonas campestris pv. vitians), oomycete and fungal pathogens (downy mildew NDASH Bremia lactucae, powdery mildew NDASH Golovinomyces cichoracearum, anthracnose NDASH Microdochium panattoniana, stemphylium leaf spot NDASH Stemphylium spp., sclerotinia drop NDASH Sclerotinia spp., verticillium wilt NDASH Verticillium dahliae, fusarium wilt NDASH Fusarium spp., pythium wilt NDASH Pythium tracheiphylum), nematodes (potato cyst nematode NDASH Globodera rostochiensis, root-knot nematode NDASH Meloidogyne spp., incognita, hapla, javanica, enterolobii), insects and mites (the green lettuce aphid NDASH Nasonovia ribisnigri, the green peach aphid NDASH Myzus persicae, the potato aphid NDASH Macrosiphum euphorbiae, leafminer NDASH Liriomyza spp.). The approaches used to exploit wild Lactuca spp. in lettuce breeding are discussed and known examples of lettuce cultivars with traits derived from wild Lactuca spp. are described.