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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 #360651
Research Project: Identification of Novel Management Strategies for Key Pests and Pathogens of Grapevine with Emphasis on the Xylella Fastidiosa Pathosystem

Location: Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research

Title: Infection of blueberry cultivar Emerald with a California grapevine isolate of Xylella fastidiosa and acquisition by glassy-winged sharpshooter

Author
item Burbank, Lindsey
item Sisterson, Mark
item O'Leary, Michael

Submitted to: American Phytopathological Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2019
Publication Date: 8/3/2019
Citation: Burbank, L.P., Sisterson, M.S., O'Leary, M.L. 2019. Infection of blueberry cultivar Emerald with a California grapevine isolate of Xylella fastidiosa and acquisition by glassy-winged sharpshooter. American Phytopathological Society Abstracts. Presented at the American Phytopathological Society meeting, Aug 3-7, 2019, Cleveland, Ohio.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Bacterial leaf scorch disease caused by Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) occurs in southern highbush blueberry varieties in the southeastern United States. However, blueberry cultivar susceptibility to Xf is variable and these interactions are often specific to the pathogen strain. In the San Joaquin Valley of California where Pierce’s disease in grapevines caused by Xf subsp. fastidiosa has been problematic over the last twenty years, blueberry acreage of southern highbush cultivars is expanding, but very little is known concerning the potential for spread of Xf from grape to blueberry in this area. Glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodiscus vitripennis), a major vector of Xf in the San Joaquin Valley is known to feed on blueberry suggesting potential for emergence of bacterial leaf scorch in California if susceptible blueberry cultivars are planted near Xf-infected grapevines. Experimental inoculations showed that a California Pierce’s disease strain of Xf subsp. fastidiosa (Bakersfield-1) causes disease in blueberry cultivar Emerald, and glassy-winged sharpshooter was able to acquire Xf Bakersfield-1 from artificially inoculated blueberry plants under laboratory conditions. The possibility for spread of Xf between blueberries and nearby vineyards has implications for area-wide disease and vector control in the San Joaquin Valley and other regions where these two crops are grown.