Insect Science

Abstract Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, is the most destructive disease of cultivated citrus worldwide. Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the putative causal agent of HLB, is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae). In Florida, D. citri was first reported in 1998, and CLas was confirmed in 2005. Management of HLB relies on the use of insecticides to reduce vector populations. In 2016, antibiotics were approved to manage CLas infection in citrus. Diaphorina citri is host to several bacterial endosymbionts and reducing endosymbiont abundance is known to cause a corresponding reduction in host fitness. We hypothesized that applications of oxytetracycline and streptomycin would reduce: CLas populations in young and mature citrus trees, CLas acquisition by D. citri, and D. citri abundance. Our results indicate that treatment of citrus with oxytetracycline and streptomycin reduced acquisition of CLas by D. citri adults and emerging F1 nymphs as compared with that observed in trees treated only with insecticides, but not with antibiotics. However, under field conditions, neither antibiotic treatment frequency tested affected CLas infection of young or mature trees as compared with insecticide treatment alone (negative control); whereas trees enveloped with mesh screening that excluded vectors did prevent bacterial infection (positive control). Populations of D. citri were not consistently affected by antibiotic treatment under field conditions, as compared with an insecticide only comparison. Collectively, our results suggest that while foliar application of oxytetracycline and streptomycin to citrus reduces acquisition of CLas bacteria by the vector, even high frequency applications of these formulations under field conditions do not prevent or reduce tree infection.

The family Anaplasmataceae includes tick-borne bacteria of major public and veterinary health interest, as best illustrated by members of the genera Anaplasma and Ehrlichia. Recent epidemiological surveys have also reported on the presence of a novel putative genus in the Anaplasmataceae, Candidatus Allocryptoplasma, previously described as Candidatus Cryptoplasma in the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus. However, the genetic diversity of Ca. Allocryptoplasma and its phylogenetic relationship with other Anaplasmataceae remain unclear. In this study, we developed a multi-locus sequence typing approach, examining the DNA sequence variation at five genes of Ca. Allocryptoplasma found in ticks. Combining this multi-locus sequence typing and genetic data available on public databases, we found that substantial genetic diversity of Ca. Allocryptoplasma is present in Ixodes, Amblyomma and Haemaphysalis spp. ticks on most continents. Further analyses confirmed that the Ca. Allocryptoplasma of ticks, the Ca. Allocryptoplasma of lizards and some Anaplasma-like bacteria of wild mice cluster into a monophyletic genus, divergent from all other genera of the family Anaplasmataceae. Candidatus Allocryptoplasma appears as a sister genus of Anaplasma and, with the genera Ehrlichia and Neoehrlichia, they form a monophyletic subgroup of Anaplasmataceae associated with tick-borne diseases. The detection of genetically distinct Ca. Allocryptoplasma in ticks of significant medical or veterinary interest supports the hypothesis that it is an emergent genus of tick-borne pathogens of general concern.

‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (CaLsol), the etiological agent of potato zebra chip (ZC), is transmitted to potato plants by the psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Šulc, 1909) in North and Central America and New Zealand. The risk of the dispersion of ZC in Spain depends on the presence of an efficient vector. This work studies the presence and abundance of ZC symptoms and CaLsol in potato plants, as well as the presence and abundance of psyllid species associated with potato crops in the main producing areas in Spain. Eighty-eight plots were surveyed punctually to detect ZC symptoms and psyllid species in the main potato-producing areas. Furthermore, fourteen potato plots were surveyed by different sampling methods during the cropping season to detect psyllid species from 2016 to 2018. Very few symptomatic and CaLsol-positive plants were detected in Mainland Spain, and any positive plant was detected in the Canary Islands. Most of the adult psyllids captured were identified as Bactericera nigricornis (Foerster, 1848), and some of them as Bactericera trigonica, but no B. cockerelli was detected. B. nigricornis was found widely distributed in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula; however, this psyllid does not seem sufficient to pose a threat to potato production, due to the scarce number of specimens and because the frequency of B. nigricornis specimens that were CaLsol+ was very low.