Beet leafhopper

Abstract: Feeding behavior of beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus (Baker) (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), was studied with a DC electrical penetration graph. Nine different electrical penetration graph waveforms associated with feeding were identified and characterized. Waveforms were correlated with specific feeding behaviors using a number of techniques, including high magnification video recording, honeydew analysis, stylectomy, and histological processing. Waveforms were grouped into three phases based on feeding behavior: pathway phase (waveforms A, B1, B2, and C), non-phloem ingestion phase (waveform G), and phloem phase (waveforms D1, D2, D3, and D4). No ingestion was found to occur during waveforms A, B1, B2, and C. Waveform G was associated primarily with ingestion of xylem sap and occasionally with ingestion of mesophyll sap. Stylet tips were located in phloem during waveforms D1, D2, and D3, and waveforms D2 and D3 were correlated with ingestion of phloem sap. Waveform D4 probably also plays a role in phloem ingestion, because D4 is very brief and always occurs embedded in either waveform D2 or D3. In contrast to most other homopteran insects, rate of honeydew production (and hence rate of ingestion) was much lower on phloem than on xylem. More rapid rates of ingestion are expected on phloem, because its high turgor pressure drives sap into the feeding insect whereas the negative pressure of xylem sap is expected to cause a slow rate of ingestion. The very slow ingestion rate of beet leafhopper feeding on phloem suggests that it is not able to exploit the high turgor pressure of phloem to achieve the high rate of ingestion that is typical of phloem ingestion by other insects.

Abstract: A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method for the detection of the curtovirus Beet mild curly top virus (BMCTV, previously named the Worland strain of Beet curly top virus) was developed and used to investigate the BMCTV-beet leafhopper interaction. Using PCR and a BMCTV-specific primer pair, an approximately 1.1-kb BMCTV DNA fragment was amplified from adult leafhoppers and from the organs involved in circulative transmission: the digestive tract, hemolymph, and salivary glands. The temporal distribution of BMCTV in the leafhopper was determined using insects given acquisition access periods (AAPs) ranging from 1 to 48 h on BMCTV-infected shepherd's purse plants. BMCTV was detected in the digestive tract after all AAPs, in the hemolymph after AAPs of 3 h or greater, and in the salivary glands after AAPs of 4 h or greater. The amount of virus detected in the hemolymph and salivary glands increased with AAP length. The virus persisted for up to 30 days in leafhoppers (given a 3-day AAP on BMCTV-infected plants) maintained on corn plants, a nonhost for BMCTV, but transovarial transmission was not detected. These results are consistent with a persistent but nonpropagative mode of circulative transmission.

Abstract: The incidence of beet curly top geminivirus (BCTV) infection in weeds in the San Joaquin Valley of California was investigated from May 1993 through February 1995. BCTV, which was detected by dot blot hybridization, was found to be naturally infecting a wide range of plant hosts. Weeds from 14 different plant families, as well as a variety of crops, were found to be infected with BCTV. Weeds naturally infected with BCTV were generally asymptomatic. Infection rates for frequently collected plant species ranged from 2 to 11%. All but two of the BCTV-infected plants were collected from the valley floor in Fresno County. Infected plants were detected in all collections except for the final sampling date. As determined by hybridization, the virus titer in crop plants such as sugar beets and tomatoes was considerably higher than in weed hosts. This work suggests that BCTV exists year round within the San Joaquin Valley of California and that crop plants play an important role in virus survival.

Abstract: Curly top disease is caused by a complex of curtoviruses (family Geminiviridae), and it continues to plague tomato production in California. To better understand the etiology of curly top of tomatoes in California, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods were developed and used to characterize the curtoviruses involved, and to monitor for these viruses in the beet leafhopper vector, Circulifer tenellus. From 2002 to 2008, 86 processing and fresh market tomato fields in the Central Valley of California were surveyed for the incidence of curly top symptoms. Representative samples with curly top symptoms were collected from the surveyed fields, as well as from another 24 fields. The incidence of curly top symptoms in most fields ranged from trace ( 20%) incidences. PCR with general and species-specific primers was used to establish that the predominant species associated with tomato curly top di...