Infection Density Dynamics of the Citrus Greening Bacterium “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” in Field Populations of the Psyllid Diaphorina citri and Its Relevance to the Efficiency of Pathogen Transmission to Citrus Plants
ABSTRACT
Huanglongbing, or citrus greening, is a devastating disease of citrus plants recently spreading worldwide, which is caused by an uncultivable bacterial pathogen, “
Candidatus
Liberibacter asiaticus,” and vectored by a phloem-sucking insect,
Diaphorina citri
. We investigated the infection density dynamics of “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” in field populations of
D. citri
with experiments using field-collected insects to address how “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” infection density in the vector insect is relevant to pathogen transmission to citrus plants. Of 500 insects continuously collected from “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus”-infected citrus trees with pathological symptoms in the spring and autumn of 2009, 497 (99.4%) were “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” positive. The infections were systemic across head-thorax and abdomen, ranging from 10
3
to 10
7
bacteria per insect. In spring, the infection densities were low in March, at ∼10
3
bacteria per insect, increasing up to 10
6
to 10
7
bacteria per insect in April and May, and decreasing to 10
5
to 10
6
bacteria per insect in late May, whereas the infection densities were constantly ∼10
6
to 10
7
bacteria per insect in autumn. Statistical analysis suggested that several factors, such as insect sex, host trees, and collection dates, may be correlated with “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” infection densities in field
D. citri
populations. Inoculation experiments with citrus seedlings using field-collected “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus”-infected insects suggested that (i) “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus”-transmitting insects tend to exhibit higher infection densities than do nontransmitting insects, (ii) a threshold level (∼10
6
bacteria per insect) of “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” density in
D. citri
is required for successful transmission to citrus plants, and (iii)
D. citri
attaining the threshold infection level transmits “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus” to citrus plants in a stochastic manner. These findings provide valuable insights into understanding, predicting, and controlling this notorious citrus pathogen.