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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414046
Research Project: Novel Approaches for Management of Row Crop Pests and Continued Boll Weevil Eradication

Location: Insect Control and Cotton Disease Research

Title: Evaluation of cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter)) feeding on Mpp51Aa2-traited cotton utilizing electrical penetration graph (EPG) waveforms

Author
item ARTHUR, BRADY - Texas A&M University
item Suh, Charles
item MCKNIGHT, BENJAMIN - Texas A&M University
item PARAJULEE, MEGHA - Texas A&M University
item YANG, FEI - University Of Minnesota
item CHAPPELL, THOMAS - Texas A&M University
item KERNS, DAVID - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/25/2024
Publication Date: 4/29/2024
Citation: Arthur, B.P., Suh, C.P.-C., McKnight, B.M., Parajulee, M.N., Yang, F., Chappell, T.M., Kerns, D.L. 2024. Evaluation of cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter)) feeding on Mpp51Aa2-traited cotton utilizing electrical penetration graph (EPG) waveforms. Insects. 15(5). Article 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15050316.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15050316

Interpretive Summary: Our previous research demonstrated that ThryvOn, a genetically modified cotton line that produces a protein toxin for lygus bugs, also protects plants against the cotton fleahopper. However, the mechanism of protection against the cotton fleahopper is not fully understood. We used a technique known as electropenetrography to monitor the feeding behavior of cotton fleahopper nymphs on ThryvOn and non-ThryvOn cotton plants. We found that although significantly more attempts were made by nymphs to penetrate and probe ThryvOn cotton compared to non-ThryvOn cotton plants, the nymphs were unable to sustain ingestion of plant fluids when feeding on ThryvOn; likely due to the protein toxin damaging the insect's gut. Thus, our findings provide conclusive evidence that the protein toxin produced in ThyrvOn cotton protects plants against cotton fleahopper nymphs by altering the feeding behavior of nymphs.

Technical Abstract: Prior to the recent implementation of the Mpp51Aa2 pesticidal protein (ThryvOn), transgenic cotton cultivars have historically offered no control against the cotton fleahopper (Pseudatomocelis seriatus (Reuter)). To evaluate the feeding behavior of cotton fleahoppers on ThryvOn cotton, electropenetrography (EPG), using a Giga-8 DC instrument was used to monitor the probing activity of 4th and 5th instar cotton fleahopper nymphs on both ThryvOn and non-ThryvOn cotton squares. Nymphs were individually placed on an excised cotton square for 8 hours of EPG recording, after which resulting waveforms were classified as non-probing, cell rupturing, or ingestion. Although there were significantly more cell rupturing events per insect on ThryvOn (mean ± SEM, 14.8 ± 1.7) than on non-ThryvOn squares (mean ± SEM, 10.3 ± 1.6), there was not a difference attributable to ThryvOn on the average number of ingestion events per insect. However, the average duration of ingestion events was significantly shorter on squares with ThryvOn (mean ± SEM, 509 ± 148s) than for squares without (mean ± SEM, 914 ± 135s). This suggests that cotton fleahoppers continued to probe despite their inability to sustain ingestion. These results provide conclusive evidence that the Mpp51Aa2 pesticidal protein affects the feeding behavior of cotton fleahopper nymphs.