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Title: PROGRESS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY SPECIFIC TO GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER EGG PROTEIN: A TOOL FOR PREDATOR GUT ANALYSIS AND EARLY DETECTION OF PEST INFESTATION

Author
item Hagler, James
item DAANE, KENT - UNIV OF CA BERKELEY, CA
item COSTA, HEATHER - UNIV OF CA RIVERSIDE, CA

Submitted to: CDFA Pierce's Disease Control Program Research Symposium
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2002
Publication Date: 12/30/2002
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Effective control of glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) will require an integrated pest management approach. A major component of true integrated pest management is the exploitation of the pest's natural enemies, which, when utilized to their greatest potential, can also increase the effectiveness of chemical, mechanical, and cultural control. Unfortunately, very little information exists on predaceous enemies of GWSS. Evidence of predation on GWSS has been observed in the field (JRH, pers. obs.); however, the GWSS predator complex and its impact on GWSS mortality are unknown. A useful technique for .identifying a pest's natural enemy complex is through the use of predator gut content immunoassays employing pest-specific .antibodies (Greenstone, 1996). Over the past decade we have developed a library of MAbs specific to the egg stage of Lygus hesperus, Pectinophora .gossypiella, and Bemisia argentifolii (Hagler et al., 1991, 1993, 1994) for use in studying egg and adult female predation in the field (Hagler et al., 1992; Hagler and Naranjo, 1994a,b ). Our MAb library provided an avenue to qualitatively identify .and assess the impact of over a dozen predator species on populations of key insect pests; provided a quick, efficient, and .cost effective technique for screening numerous predators in a conservation biological control program (Hagler & Naranjo, 1994a,b; Hagler, 2002); and provided a method to compare the efficacy of in vitro-reared predators with that of their wild counterparts in an augmentative biological control program (Hagler and Naranjo, 1996).