Abstract
Insects can be effective vectors of plant diseases and this may result in billions of dollars in lost agricultural productivity. New, emerging or introduced diseases will continue to cause extensive damage in afflicted areas. Understanding how the vector acquires the pathogen and inoculates new hosts is critical in developing effective management strategies. Management may be an insecticide applied to kill the vector or a host plant resistance mechanism to make the host plant less suitable for the vector. In either case, the tactic must act before the insect performs the key behavior(s) resulting in either acquisition or transmission. This requires knowledge of the timing of behaviors the insect uses to probe the plant and commence ingestion. These behaviors are visualized using electropenetrography (EPG), wherein the plant and insect become part of an electrical circuit. With the tools to define specific steps in the probing process, we can understand the timing of acquisition and inoculation. With that understanding comes the potential for more relevant testing of management strategies, through insecticides or host plant resistance. The primary example will be Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus transmitted by Diaphorina citri Kuwayama in the citrus agroecosystem, with additional examples used as appropriate.
Highlights
About 150 out of 7100 described bacterial species are phytopathogens [1]
Because bacterial complex networks of several entomopathogens or parasitoids influencethe aspects of apathosystems pathosystem are at the point of parasitization, or organisms interacting at different levels, it is useful to focus on one system as an example of how as the natural enemy develops within the host
Despite the changes in D. citri midgut cells caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), there were no upregulated or downregulated Wolbachia proteins detected as a result of CLas infection [55]
Summary
About 150 out of 7100 described bacterial species are phytopathogens [1]. These diseases are most problematic in tropical and subtropical regions where environmental conditions favor bacterial growth. In addition to these psyllids, there are six other species of Diaphorina, and five other psyllid species that attack citrus [6] None of these have been ruled out as possible vectors of CLas. In contrast, X. fastidiosa is transmitted by several sharpshooters (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), some spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) and cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae). In the case of CLas, the primary means to manage the disease is through vector control along with destroying infected trees, limiting movement by establishing quarantine zones, and providing disease-free nursery stock [7]. This strategy is typical of most vector borne bacterial plant pathogens. There is only one tool that is ideally suited to determine if salivation into the phloem has occurred
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