ARS | Publication request: Localization of cotton disease pathogens in the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula L.

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: April 26, 2010
Publication Date: July 4, 2010
Citation: Esquivel, J.F., Medrano, E.G. 2010. Localization of cotton disease pathogens in the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula L. XII Congreso Internacional/XXXVII Congreso Nacional de Fitopatologia, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. CDROM.

Technical Abstract: Stink bugs have become problematic in cotton grown in the United States and have been shown to transmit disease pathogens to cotton bolls. However, because not all ingested disease pathogens were transmitted effectively by southern green stink bug adults (Nezara viridula L.), the objective of this study was to determine the fate of pathogens ingested by southern green stink bug adults. For two days, southern green stink bug adults were fed sterile green beans, or green beans containing Pantoea agglomerans, P. ananatis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, or Nematospora coryli in the laboratory. Sterile green beans were then fed to the treated study insects and control insects for another four days. At the conclusion of feeding, adults were processed in the lab to determine presence of ingested pathogens in the rostrum, head (salivary glands), or the alimentary canal. Preliminary observations indicate all pathogens were detected in the alimentary canal; however, only P. agglomerans and N. coryli were also detected in the rostrum and head. When pathogens were detected, the amounts ranged from 10-10,000,000 colony forming units per mL, with the greatest densities detected in the alimentary canal. Presence of P. agglomerans and N. coryli in the head and rostrum confirms that these pathogens are more likely to be transmitted to cotton bolls, thereby affecting cotton yield.