Wolbachia infection modifies phloem feeding behavior but not plant virus transmission by a hemipteran host.

Wolbachia-infected and uninfected subpopulations of beet leafhoppers, Circulifer tenellus (Baker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), co-occur in the Columbia Basin region of Washington and Oregon. While facultative endosymbionts such as Hamiltonella defensa have demonstrably altered feeding/probing behavior in hemipteran hosts, the behavioral phenotypes conferred by Wolbachia to its insect hosts, including feeding/probing, are largely understudied. We studied the feeding/probing behavior of beet leafhoppers with and without Wolbachia using electropenetrography, along with corresponding inoculation rates of beet curly top virus, a phloem-limited plant pathogen vectored by beet leafhoppers.

Afidopyropen as a potential tool for Potato leafroll virus management in post-neonicotinoid potato production.

Potato leafroll virus (PLRV) has been well managed by neonicotinoids since their widespread adoption in the United States, becoming virtually absent from seed and production fields in the Northwest. However, with increasing interest in discontinuing neonicotinoid usage, there is concern that PLRV could enjoy a resurgence in the absence of effective alternative chemistries. We tested the effects of afidopyropen, an insecticide with novel mode of action, on PLRV transmission and the feeding/probing behavior of its primary vector, the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae [Sulzer]).

Bacterial Endosymbionts Identified From Leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) Vectors of Phytoplasmas.

Insects often harbor bacterial endosymbionts that provide them with nutritional benefit or with protection against natural enemies, plant defenses, insecticides, and abiotic stresses. Certain endosymbionts may also alter acquisition and transmission of plant pathogens by insect vectors. We identified bacterial endosymbionts from four leafhopper vectors (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma' species by direct sequencing 16S rDNA and confirmed endosymbiont presence and identity by species-specific conventional PCR.

Acquisition and Transmission of ' Liberibacter solanacearum' Differs Among -Infected and -Uninfected Haplotypes of .

' Liberibacter solanacearum' (Lso) causes disease symptoms and economic losses in potato, tomato, and other solanaceous crops in North America. Lso is transmitted to plants by the potato psyllid, , which occurs as distinct haplotypes named western, central, and northwestern that differ in the presence or absence of the bacterial endosymbiont, . Previous work showed that all three vector haplotypes can transmit Lso, but it was not clear whether acquisition and transmission rates of Lso were equal among the haplotypes.