Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research
Title: Ecological connectivity of plant communities for red blotch disease dynamics revealed by the dietary profiles and landscape-level movement of Spissistilus festinusAuthor
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HOYLE, VICTORIA - Cornell University |
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Headrick, Heather |
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Cooper, William |
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FENDELL-HUMMEL, HANNAH - University Of California |
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COOPER, MONICA - University Of California |
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FLASCO, MADISON - Louisiana State University |
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CIENIEWICZ, ELIZABETH - Clemson University |
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Heck, Michelle |
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FUCHS, MARK - Cornell University |
Submitted to: Phytobiomes Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/3/2025 Publication Date: 1/7/2025 Citation: Hoyle, V., Headrick, H.L., Cooper, W.R., Fendell-Hummel, H., Cooper, M., Flasco, M., Cieniewicz, E., Heck, M.L., Fuchs, M. 2025. Ecological connectivity of plant communities for red blotch disease dynamics revealed by the dietary profiles and landscape-level movement of Spissistilus festinus. Phytobiomes Journal. https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-11-24-0105-R. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-11-24-0105-R Interpretive Summary: Grapevine red blotch virus is an economically important pathogen of grapes in the western United States transmitted by the three-cornered alfalfa hopper. Researchers from Cornell University in collaboration with USDA-ARS researchers in Ithaca, NY and Wapato, WA used molecular gut content analysis to investigate the dietary breadth of three-cornered alfalfa hopper and the role of wild grapes in the spread of grapevine red blotch virus. They found that three-cornered alfalfa hopper feeds on a diversity of plant species, and that the hopper’s diet varies with seasonal weather patterns. They also found that three-cornered alfalfa hopper freely moves between non-crop habitats and grape vineyards and acquires grapevine red blotch virus from infected cultivated and wild grapes. Results support recommendations that growers remove infected vines and consider the presence of wild grape vines in nearby non-crop habitats in their management plans. Technical Abstract: The epidemiological relationship between arthropod dispersal and plant communities is poorly understood at the landscape level. We investigated the connectivity of natural and cultivated plants in vineyard ecosystems for red blotch disease dynamics by characterizing the dietary history of Spissistilus festinus, a treehopper vector of grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV). Molecular analysis of the gut content of 205 S. festinus caught in 71 vineyard sites and the flora proximal to vineyards in Napa Valley, California, USA revealed a total of 171 genera from 61 plant families with a preeminence of Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Vitaceae over two growing seasons, illustrating dietary profiles composed primarily of natural vegetation. An indicator species analysis identified the strength of ecological associations by showing distinct seasonal feeding trends related to weather patterns and host repertoires unique to some vineyard sites with estimated S. festinus travel distances of up to two kilometers. Potential reproductive and overwintering hosts of S. festinus were identified in natural habitats and an ecological relatedness between free-living vines in riparian corridors and vineyards for GRBV transmission was documented. Together, our findings on landscape vegetation connectivity and S. festinus dispersal transformed our understanding of red blotch disease ecology and informed disease management options. |