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Composition, abundance and phytoplasma infection in the hawthorn psyllid fauna of northwestern Italy

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Abstract

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is one of the natural hosts of Cacopsylla melanoneura, the acknowledged vector of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’, the causal agent of Apple Proliferation disease, a serious and growing problem for apple production in Europe, particularly in northern Italy. Wild plants could be important sources of both insects and phytoplasmas, but their role in the epidemiology of phytoplasma diseases and their insect vectors has never been thoroughly examined. Cacopsylla melanoneura’s primary host is hawthorn, a plant closely related to apple which often grows wild near orchards. Other psyllid species feed on hawthorn, but no data are available on their possible role as phytoplasma vectors. We investigated the hawthorn’s psyllid fauna in northwestern Italy using yellow sticky traps, beat trays, and molecular analyses from 2003–2005, to study the relationship between hawthorn, the phytoplasma and the insect vector. Population dynamics were monitored, and insects and hawthorn samples were analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and DNA sequencing for the presence of phytoplasmas. Cacopsylla melanoneura was the dominant psyllid species, followed by C. peregrina, C. affinis and C. crataegi. PCR and RFLP analyses revealed the presence of different fruit tree phytoplasmas in hawthorn plants, and in all four psyllid species.

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Acknowledgements

The research was funded by the ‘Regione Valle d’Aosta’. We are grateful to Dr Luca Bertignono of the Institute Agricole Régional, Reg. La Rochère 1/A, 1100 Aosta –Italy for his help in field surveys. We thank Dr Maggie Sherriffs of the University of California for the English revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DiVaPRA – Entomologia e Zoologia applicate all’Ambiente “C. Vidano”, Facoltà di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095, Grugliasco, Turin, Italy

    Rosemarie Tedeschi, Federica Tota & Alberto Alma

  2. Department of Entomology, Moravian Museum, Hviezdoslavova 29a, 62700, Brno, Czech Republic

    Pavel Lauterer

  3. DISTAM, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Lorenzo Brusetti

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  1. Rosemarie Tedeschi
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  2. Pavel Lauterer
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  3. Lorenzo Brusetti
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  4. Federica Tota
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  5. Alberto Alma
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Correspondence to Rosemarie Tedeschi.

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Tedeschi, R., Lauterer, P., Brusetti, L. et al. Composition, abundance and phytoplasma infection in the hawthorn psyllid fauna of northwestern Italy. Eur J Plant Pathol 123, 301–310 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-008-9367-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-008-9367-1

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