Glassy-winged sharpshooter transmission of Xylella fastidiosa, causal agent of citrus variegated chlorosis

• Author(s): Brlansky, Ronald; Damsteegt, V.; Phillip, Phil; Roy, A.;
• Abstract: Citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), caused by Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), is a serious disease of citrus in Brazil and Argentina. The pathogen is transmitted by several sharpshooter leafhopper species, including Oncometopia nigricans (Brlansky et al., Plant Dis. 86:1237-39, 2002). The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Homalodisca coagulata, is a serious pest in California, where it transmits X. f strains to several crops including grapes, alfalfa, and almonds. Transmission studies over a three-year period at the USDA BSL3-P containment facility at Ft Detrick, MD, utilizing CA field-collected GWSS, a Brazilian strain of CVC, and sweet orange seedlings, have shown consistent, though inefficient transmission of CVC. Test plants were observed for CVC symptoms, analyzed by ELISA, by membrane entrapment immunofluorescence (MEIF), and by real-time PCR using species-specific primers for X. f No Xylella were detected in field-collected GWSS but were detected in GWSS following feeding on CVC-infected source plants.
• Publication Date: Jun 2003
• Journal: Phytopathology