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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #351321
Research Project: Developing New Potatoes with Improved Quality, Disease Resistance, and Nutritional Content

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Mapping potato psyllid populations in potato in the Columbia Basin of Washington and Oregon from 2013 – 2017

Author
item Swisher Grimm, Kylie
item Esquivel, Isabel
item WOHLEB, CARRIE - Washington State University
item Horton, David
item Cooper, William - Rodney
item Munyaneza, Joseph - Joe

Submitted to: American Journal of Potato Research
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2018
Publication Date: 7/15/2019
Citation: Swisher Grimm, K.D., Cueva, I., Wohleb, C., Horton, D.R., Cooper, W.R., Munyaneza, J.E. 2019. Mapping potato psyllid populations in potato in the Columbia Basin of Washington and Oregon from 2013 – 2017. American Journal of Potato Research. 96:327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-019-09723-w.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12230-019-09723-w

Interpretive Summary: Potato psyllid is an economically important pest of potato in the United States, specifically in the Pacific Northwest, where there are four different genetic populations of psyllid that have been found. A study in 2012 identified the predominant psyllid population in the Columbia Basin potato fields as the "northwestern" population, with a lesser presence of the "western" psyllid. In a continuation of this study, researchers at the USDA-ARS research unit in Wapato and Prosser, WA, in collaboration with Washington State University, analyzed psyllids collected from potato in 2013 - 2017 to determine the population dynamics over a five year period. Interestingly, a shift in the predominant psyllid population, from the northwestern to the western psyllid, was identified in this region of the Pacific Northwest. This shift may be important in understanding the impact this pest has on potato production, and how the populations of psyllid compare between crop and non-crop hosts in this region.

Technical Abstract: Potato psyllid remains a major issue in the Pacific Northwest, not only because it can transmit the bacterium, ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’, but also its excessive feeding can causes psyllid yellows disease. Four genetic populations, or haplotypes, of potato psyllid are known in the United States: northwestern, western, central and southwestern. In the Columbia Basin of Washington and Oregon, the northwestern haplotype predominated psyllid collections made during the 2012 potato growing season, followed by the western haplotype. Ongoing research has continued to provide insight into the interactions between northwestern and western haplotypes in this important potato producing region. High resolution melting analysis was used to haplotype the psyllid population over a 5-year period (2013-2017) following the initial study done in 2012. The high resolution melting analysis data was confirmed by sequencing analysis of a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. Results indicate that the psyllid population in the Columbia Basin has shifted from being predominantly of the northwestern haplotype to being largely of the western haplotype. Since the haplotyping analyses targeted a mitochondrial gene, it is possible that this shift in psyllid population may be related to reproductive incompatibility. It is known that northwestern females do not produce viable eggs when mated by western males, while western females mated by northwestern males are fully fertile. It is possible that this asymmetry in fertility contributed to the haplotype shift in the Columbia Basin observed between 2012 and 2017.