Insect pests, especially aphids and whiteflies, cause serious damage to pepper cultivation. Farmers ofte rely on chemical insecticides to avoid crop losses, but these van affect the environment, people, and lose effectiveness over time. A more sustainable solution is growing pepper plants that naturally fight off insects.

In this project, we will test differente pepper plants, identify plants with resistance against multiple insects, and investigate the mechanisms that allow them te cope with insect attacks. This knowledge will support the development of new pepper varieties that need fewer inseticides, helping farmers prtect crops in a safer and mor sustainable way.

1. characterization ot he G2P-SOL C. annuum core collection for resistance to aphids and whiteflies.
2. Identification of broad-spectrum resistance QTL's, QTL effects an flanking molecular markers
3. Identifitcation of novel metabolites associated with broad-spectrum resistance to phloem-feeding insects.
4. Localization of feeding interference in resistant accessions