Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research
Project Number: 2092-22000-022-043-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 29, 2025
End Date: Aug 27, 2027
Objective:
Assess whether foliar and/or seed treatments affect potato leafroll virus or potato virus Y transmission by green peach aphid on potato.
Approach:
We will use potato leafroll virus (PLRV)-infected and nonviruliferous (clean) green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) and potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae) colonies currently maintained in Wapato, WA, as well as PVY^NTN-infected (potato virus Y strain) leaf tissue for inoculant. PVY-viruliferous aphids will be generated by confining clean aphids to an infected plant for 10 min. Treatments will include a water control and foliar insecticides representing at least six Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IRAC) groups and one bioinsecticide, with just one insecticide rated ‘Level I’ on the bee precaution scale (sulfoxaflor; Table 2). Potato plants (cv. ‘Umatilla Russet’) assigned an insecticide treatment will be sprayed following maximum label rates using a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer. For transmission assays, we will assess inoculation rates by placing infectious insects on treated potato plants for 1 h (PVY) or 48 h (PLRV) prior to removal. Acquisition rates will be assessed by placing clean insects on infected, treated plants for 1 h (PVY) or 48 h (PLRV) and transferring individuals to untreated, uninfected indicator plants for a similar time interval, two weeks after which inoculated leaves of indicator plants will be collected and tested for pathogen infection using rt-PCR (PLRV, PVY).