A SURVEY OF INSECT VECTORS OF PIERCES DISEASE (PD) AND PD-INFECTED PLANTS FOR THE PRESENCE OF BACTERIOPHAGE THAT INFECT XYLELLA FASTIDIOSA

• Author(s): Lauzon, Carol; Miller, Thomas;
• Abstract: Pierces disease (PD) is an incurable disease of grapevine caused by strains of Xylella fastidiosa. The bacterium gains entrance into the grapevine through the feeding activities of the blue-green sharpshooter, Graphocephala atropunctata (Purcell, 1975) and the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Purcell, 1979). PD is endemic to California, however, with the recent detection of the glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) in California, patterns of PD distribution are likely to change and host plant infection and/or associated plant death rates are likely to soar (Purcell, Personal Communication). Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is considered an unconventional pathogen countermeasure where viruses are used to kill specific bacteria, primarily pathogens. Recent successful endeavors using phage to control Lactococcus garvieaea infection in yellowtail (Natai et al., 1999) and the discovery that the natural antibiotic in dog saliva is a bacteriophage (Matzinger, and Arnheiter, 2000) lend momentum toward the exploration and use of novel ways to control many different bacterial infections. Our proposal addresses the possibility that phage exist in nature that infect X. fastidiosa and that these phage may be useful for PD control or management.
• Publication Date: Dec 2001
• Journal: 2001 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium