Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #406012
Research Project: New Technologies and Strategies for Managing Emerging Insect Pests and Insect Transmitted Pathogens of Potatoes

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: High-throughput molecular gut content analysis of aphids identifies plants relevant for potato virus Y epidemiology

Author
item PITT, WILLIAM - Colorado State University
item Cooper, William - Rodney
item POUCHNIK, DEREK - Washington State University
item Headrick, Heather
item NACHAPPA, PUNYA - Colorado State University

Submitted to: Insect Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2023
Publication Date: 2/6/2024
Citation: Pitt, W.J., Cooper, W.R., Pouchnik, D., Headrick, H.L., Nachappa, P. 2024. High-throughput molecular gut content analysis of aphids identifies plants relevant for potato virus Y epidemiology. Insect Science. 31;1489-1502. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13327.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13327

Interpretive Summary: Potato virus Y (PVY) is a devastating pathogen of potato and other crops that is transmitted by several aphid vectors. The aphid vectors often pick up PVY from weedy plants before entering crop fields, but we still have a limited understanding of which weeds are most important in the spread of PVY. Researchers at the USDA-ARS in Wapato, WA and Colorado State University used molecular gut content analysis to pinpoint which weedy hosts the aphid vectors of PVY most frequently feed upon in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, which is an important potato growing region. They found that the aphids frequently fed upon non-host weeds that are known sources of PVY. They also found evidence that two overlooked aphid species - namely the artichoke aphid and Russian wheat aphid - may be important vectors of PVY in potato. Results of this study will be used by researchers to develop areawide management strategies for PVY.

Technical Abstract: Aphids are phloem-feeding insects that reduce crop productivity due to feeding and transmission of many plant viruses. When aphids disperse across the landscape to colonize new host plants, they will often probe on a wide variety of non-host plants before settling on a host suitable for feeding and reproduction. There is limited understanding of the diversity of plants that aphids probe on within a landscape, but characterizing this diversity can help us better understand host use patterns of aphids. Here, we use high throughput molecular gut content analysis (GCA) to identify plant genera that were probed by aphid vectors of potato virus Y (PVY). Aphids were trapped weekly in potato fields during the growing seasons of 2020 and 2021 in San Luis Valley in Colorado. High-throughput sequencing of plant barcoding genes, trnF and ITS2, from 200 individual alate (i.e., winged) aphids representing nine vector species of PVY was performed using the PacBio sequencing platform, and sequences were identified to genus using NCBI BLASTn. We found that 34.7% of aphids probed upon presumed PVY host plants and that two of the most frequently detected plant genera, Solanum and Brassica, represent important crops and weeds within the study region. We found that 75.0% of aphids frequently probed upon PVY non-hosts including many species that are outside of their reported host ranges. Additionally, 19% of the aphids probed upon more than one plant species. This study provides the first evidence from high throughput molecular GCA of aphids and reveals host use patterns that are relevant for PVY epidemiology.