De novo transcriptome assemblies of four xylem sap-feeding insects.

Background: Spittle bugs and sharpshooters are well-known xylem sap-feeding insects and vectors of the phytopathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Wells), a causal agent of Pierce's disease of grapevines and other crop diseases. Specialized feeding on nutrient-deficient xylem sap is relatively rare among insect herbivores, and only limited genomic and transcriptomic information has been generated for xylem-sap feeders. To develop a more comprehensive understanding of biochemical adaptations and symbiotic relationships that support survival on a nutritionally austere dietary source, transcriptome assemblies for three sharpshooter species and one spittlebug species were produced.

Effects of foliar and systemic insecticides on whitefly transmission and incidence of Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus.

Background: Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) is a cosmopolitan viral disease transmitted by Bemisia tabaci that infects cucurbit crops. Cantaloupe production in the southwestern USA has been confronted by epidemics of CYSDV since 2006 when it was first identified in Arizona and California. As a phloem-limited virus that is vectored in a semi-persistent manner by B.

Evolution of host breadth in broad interactions: mycorrhizal specificity in East Asian and North American rattlesnake plantains (Goodyera spp.) and their fungal hosts.

Host breadth is often assumed to have no evolutionary significance in broad interactions because of the lack of cophylogenetic patterns between interacting species. Nonetheless, the breadth and suite of hosts utilized by one species may have adaptive value, particularly if it underlies a common ecological niche among hosts. Here, we present a preliminary assessment of the evolution of mycorrhizal specificity in 12 closely related orchid species (genera Goodyera and Hetaeria) using DNA-based methods.