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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #337758
Title: Acquisition of Xyllela fastidiosa causes changes to the inoculation behavior (EPG X wave) of an efficient sharpshooter vector

Author
item RODDEE, J - Khon Kaen University
item Backus, Elaine
item Cervantes, Felix
item HANBOONSONG, Y. - Khon Kaen University

Submitted to: 3rd Hemipteran-Plant Interactions Symposium Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/7/2017
Publication Date: 6/4/2017
Citation: Roddee, J., Backus, E.A., Cervantes, F.A., Hanboonsong, Y. 2017. Acquisition of Xyllela fastidiosa causes changes to the inoculation behavior (EPG X wave) of an efficient sharpshooter vector. 3rd Hemipteran-Plant Interactions Symposium Abstracts. p. 42.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is a foregut-borne bacterium that is inoculated into xylem cells of a healthy plant during feeding by sharpshooter vectors. Inoculation occurs during salivation and egestion behaviors that are likely represented by the sharpshooter X wave. The objective of this study was to test whether inoculation behaviors are altered by the presence of Xf colonies in the foregut of a vector. Age-specific, blue-green sharpshooters, Graphocephala atropunctata (Signoret), were reared on basil with weekly plant changing; insects were removed from basil colony and given one of four treatments prior to EPG recording: 1) old colony adults, 2) young colony adults, 3) young colony adults caged for 4 days on a healthy grape leaf, and 4) young colony adults caged for 4 days on a symptomatic grape leaf of plants mechanically inoculated with Xf. Infection status of acquisition leaves was later verified via qPCR. After treatment, all insects were recorded with an AC-DC electropenetrograph for 20 hours each. X wave components XB1 (salivation and rinsing egestion) and XC1 (discharge egestion) were measured and three variables (mean event duraton, mean number of events, and mean “total” waveform duration, all per insect) were calculated. Data were statistically compared among treatments via SAS. Insects from healthy grape made significantly more events (for significantly longer “total” duration) of both X waveforms than did insects from basil, with intermediate numbers for insects given access to infected grape. Mean event durations were not significantly different. These results show that colonization of vectors by Xf increases the likelihood of performance of behaviors associated with inoculation of Xf. This study expands understanding of Xf inoculation, which will be applied to improving grape resistance to sharpshooter inoculation of Xf.