Infectivity and Transmission of <I>Xylella fastidiosa</I> by <I>Philaenus spumarius</I> (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) in Apulia, Italy

Abstract

Discovery of Xylella fastidiosa from olive trees with "Olive quick decline syndrome" in October 2013 on the west coast of the Salento Peninsula prompted an immediate search for insect vectors of the bacterium. The dominant xylem-fluid feeding hemipteran collected in olive orchards during a 3-mo survey was the meadow spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae). Adult P. spumarius, collected in November 2013 from ground vegetation in X. fastidiosa-infected olive orchards, were 67% (40 out of 60) positive for X. fastidiosa by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Euscelis lineolatus Brullé were also collected but tested negative for the pathogen. Transmission tests with P. spumarius collected from the Salento area were, therefore, conducted. After a 96-h inoculation access period with 8 to 10 insects per plant and a 30-d incubation period, PCR results showed P. spumarius transmitted X. fastidiosa to two of five periwinkle plants but not to the seven olive plants. Sequences of PCR products from infected periwinkle were identical with those from X. fastidiosa-infected field trees. These data showed P. spumarius as a vector of X. fastidiosa strain infecting olives trees in the Salento Peninsula, Italy.

Transmission ofXylella fastidiosato Grapevine by the Meadow Spittlebug

“…Purcell (1980) and Saponari et al (2014) also confirmed that P. spumarius was a vector of this bacterium to plants. In addition, Clastoptera achatina (Clastopteridae) and Lepyronia quadrangularis (Aphrophoridae) were shown to transmit X. fastidiosa to pecans (Sanderlin and Melanson 2010).…”

Xylella fastidiosa and olive quick decline syndrome (CoDiRO) in Salento (southern Italy): a chemometric 1H NMR-based preliminary study on Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò cultivars

“…2a). In this model, the first two components give R 2 = 0.71 and Q 2 = 0.55, t [1] and t [2] accounting for 56 and 15% of the explained variance, respectively. The PCA model of Fig.…”

“…The PCA model of Fig. 2b is built with all the treated Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò samples, and the first two components give R 2 = 0.71 and Q 2 = 0.59, describing the samples distribution in the bidimensional space defined by t [1] and t [2] (in this case accounting for 53 and 18% of the explained variance, respectively). Analysis of the PCA (t[1]/t [2]) score plots showed that only in the case of samples treated with DENTAMET ® , a clear partition of data was observed with a good grouping according to the original cultivar (Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò).…”

“…Subsequently, the syndrome spread over many hectares of olive trees causing dramatic effects and currently it represents a serious local emergence [2]. Xylella fastidiosa is a Gram-negative bacterium member of the Xanthomonadaceae (γ-proteobacteria) which colonizes the xylem of host plants and the foreguts of insect vectors [3].…”

Sustainable Management of Plant Quarantine Pests: The Case of Olive Quick Decline Syndrome

“…Recently, a new paradigm of a non-persistent X. fastidiosa transmission mechanism was proposed, suggesting an egestion-salivation mechanism of pathogen inoculation [75]. In OQDS outbreaks, Philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera, Aphrophoridae) was rapidly identified as the most important vector for CoDiRO strain transmission [76,77]. The CoDiRO strain was also detected in other insects, such as Neophilaenus campestris (Aphrophoridae) and Euscelis lineolatus (Cicadellidae) [78,79], while sharpshooters may transmit subspp.…”