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Title: Haplotypes of the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, on the wild host plant, Solanum dulcamara, in the Pacific Northwestern United States

Author
item Swisher Grimm, Kylie
item SENGODA, VENKATESAN - Former ARS Employee
item Dixon, Jacob
item ECHEGARAY, ERIK - Oregon State University
item MURPHEY, ALEXANDRA - Oregon State University
item RONDON, SILVIA - Oregon State University
item Munyaneza, Joseph - Joe
item Crosslin, James

Submitted to: American Journal of Potato Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/19/2013
Publication Date: 11/20/2013
Citation: Swisher, K.D., Sengoda, V., Dixon, J.A., Echegaray, E., Murphey, A., Rondon, S., Munyaneza, J.E., Crosslin, J. 2013. Haplotypes of the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli, on the wild host plant, Solanum dulcamara, in the Pacific Northwestern United States. American Journal of Potato Research. 90:570-577.

Interpretive Summary: The potato psyllids is linked to economically-important diseases of solanaceous crops in North and Central America and New Zealand. It has been observed living on wild host plants in both the United States and New Zealand. In the Pacific Northwestern United States, the potato psyllid was found breeding and reproducing on the bittersweet nightshade. This report utilized molecular techniques to identify which of the four known psyllid populations were living on the bittersweet nightshade during both the summer and winter months in the Pacific Northwest. Both the Northwestern and Western psyllid populations were observed on the bittersweet nightshade, although the Northwestern population predominated. These psyllid populations are able to overwinter in the cold temperatures of the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, this report utilized molecular techniques to access the incidence of Liberibacter, the bacterium attributed to the economically devastating zebra chip disease of potatoes, in each psyllid. One psyllid, collected during the summer, contained the bacterium. No psyllids collected during the winter contained the bacterium, suggesting that these psyllids do not pose a threat of spreading the disease to newly emerging solanaceous crops in the spring, unless a source of the bacterium becomes available.

Technical Abstract: ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (Lso) is a bacterium that infects solanaceous crops and causes plant decline and yield losses, especially in potato and tomato. Lso is transmitted to these hosts by the potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli Sulc.) vector. B. cockerelli host plants are not limited to crop plants, but also include many wild, solanaceous weeds. These wild hosts could potentially impact overwintering and breeding of the psyllids and serve as reservoirs for Lso. In the Pacific Northwestern United States, B. cockerelli was recently reported to overwinter on bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara L.). The present study utilized high resolution melting analysis of the B. cockerelli mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene to assess the psyllid populations occurring on S. dulcamara during the summer and winter months in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Lso infection was also determined for the psyllids collected from S. dulcamara. During both the summer and the winter months in the Pacific Northwest, the Northwestern psyllid haplotype was the predominant population found living on S. dulcamara. However, low levels of the Western psyllid population were also present in Washington and Oregon during the same period. No overwintering psyllids tested were Lso-infected, suggesting that these populations do not pose an imminent threat of Lso transmission to newly emerging potatoes and other solanaceous crops in the region, unless a source of Lso becomes available.