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Submitted to: Florida Entomological Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 12/9/2007 Publication Date: 12/9/2007 Citation: Hunter, W.B. 2007. Virus entry and replication in the Glassy-winged sharpshhoter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). Florida Entomological Society Annual Meeting. http://esa.confex.com/esa/2007/techprogram/paper_30066.htm Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: A recently discovered leafhopper viral pathogen was examined to determine the route of virus entry and sites of replication in the glassy-winged sharpshooter, GWSS, (Homalodisca vitripennis, Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). The virus, HoCV-1, has been associated with increased nymphal mortality and is a contributing factor to the difficulty of mass rearing GWSS. The virus was isolated from field caught GWSS and the genome has been fully sequenced. Sequence identity showed that HoCV-1 was a ssRNA virus, most closely related to viruses within the family Dicistroviridae, whose type virus is the ‘Cricket-paralysis virus’. The virus was visualized in midgut tissues using transmission electron microscopy, TEM, and analysis using rtPCR supports that the virus enters and replicates within the midgut tissues. In silico analysis of two cDNA libraries made from salivary glands and midguts dissected from field collected GWSS were also examined to elucidate presence and replication of HoCV-1. Viral sequences were detected in the midgut tissues, but absent in the salivary tissues. While few leafhopper-infecting viral pathogens have been discovered, it is postulated that an increase in nymphal mortality, especially during the final nymphal stage, is associated with contributing to the reduction in sharpshooter populations throughout southern California. New discoveries such as these aid efforts to manage the GWSS and other leafhopper vectors of Pierce’s disease. |
