VARIATION IN RESISTANCE OF MEXICAN LANDRACES OF MAIZE TO MAIZE WEEVIL SITOPHILUS-ZEAMAIS, IN RELATION TO TAXONOMIC AND BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS

Accessions representing twenty eight landraces of maize were assessed for susceptibility to the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais in standardized resistance tests. Susceptibility parameters such as weight loss of grain, number of insect progeny produced, the Dobie index of susceptibility, and oviposition on grain were found to vary significantly by genotype, with exceptional resistance found in accessions representing the Naltel, Chapalote and Palomero landraces. As in improved genotypes, susceptibility was negatively correlated to phenolic and protein content of the variety tested but positively correlated to moisture content. A detailed analysis of the phenolics revealed the presence of diferulate which may contribute to mechanical resistance of the seed by cross-linking of cell wall hemicelluloses. A canonical discriminant analysis of the resistance data suggests that most of the five landrace groupings are significantly different. The ancient indigenous and prehistoric mestisos groupings are sources of resistant genotypes.