Abstract
Neonicotinoids are widely used to protect fields against aphid-borne viral diseases. The recent ban of these chemical compounds in the European Union has strongly impacted rapeseed and sugar beet growing practices. The poor sustainability of other insecticide families and the low efficiency of prophylactic methods to control aphid populations and pathogen introduction strengthen the need to characterize the efficiency of new plant protection products targeting aphids. In this study, the impact of Movento® (Bayer S.A.S., Leverkusen, Germany), a tetrameric acid derivative of spirotetramat, on Myzus persicae and on viral transmission was analyzed under different growing temperatures. The results show (i) the high efficiency of Movento® to protect rapeseed and sugar beet plants against the establishment of aphid colonies, (ii) the impact of temperature on the persistence of the Movento® aphicid properties and (iii) a decrease of approximately 10% of the viral transmission on treated plants. These observations suggest a beneficial effect of Movento® on the sanitary quality of treated crops by directly reducing primary infections and indirectly altering, through aphid mortality, secondary infections on which the spread of disease within field depends. These data constitute important elements for the future development of management strategies to protect crops against aphid-transmitted viruses.
Highlights
One of the most important challenges for a virus is to optimize its transfer between hosts
Since the end of neonicotinoids (NNI) in Europe in 2018 [32], the control of aphid-borne viral diseases can no longer rely on the use of this family of insecticides
Due to the existence of M. persicae clones resistant to the other chemical families widely used to remove insects from cultivated fields, these insecticides cannot constitute an alternative to NNI
Summary
One of the most important challenges for a virus is to optimize its transfer between hosts. For numerous viral species, host change depends on an organism which acts as vector (e.g., nematodes (e.g., Grapevine fanleaf virus, genus Nepovirus [4]), fungi (e.g., Beet necrotic yellow vein virus, genus Benyvirus [5]) or insects (e.g., Wheat dwarf virus, genus Mastrevirus [6])) These vectors can be considered as an advantage in the spread of viral pathogens. For insect-borne viral disease, insecticide (e.g., neonicotinoids, pyrethoids, and/or carbamates) were widely used, especially for crops that did not have genetic resources to control viral infections These chemicals can be associated to (i) toxic effects on non-targeted organisms [12,13] or (ii) the selection of insecticide-resistant vectors [14,15]. Some chemical families (e.g., neonicotinoids) have been banned in Europe [16], whereas other insecticides have lost their efficiency (emergence of resistant insects), making them obsolete for the control of vectors within fields [17,18]
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