Abstract
The glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Say), is an important pest on grapes, citrus, almonds and other commercial crops in California as it is a vector of Xylella fastidiosa Wells, a bacterium that causes Pierce's disease in grapes, citrus variegated chlorosis, almond leaf scorch and other plant diseases. Various entomopathogenic fungi isolated from natural infections of H. coagulata, its habitats and other insect hosts were evaluated against this insect vector. Based on these studies, 3 isolates of the hyphomycetous fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, were selected for further evaluation. Two of these were California isolates, one each from the three-cornered alfalfa hopper, Spissistilus festinus (Say), and soil from H. coagulata habitat, and the third was a Texas isolate from natural infections of H. coagulata. All three were similar in their virulence to H. coagulata under laboratory conditions. The genetic relatedness of the B. bassiana isolates also was compared using single sequence repeat (SSR) markers which showed genetic diversity of this species based on the source of the isolate. Some isolates were 4× more infectious than others demonstrating that virulence of B. bassiana is not necessarily associated with their genetic relatedness.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.