| Summary: | Crop losses caused by the plant pathogenic bacterium ‘<i>Candidatus</i> Phytoplasma solani’ (CaPsol) underscore the need to better understand its perplexing epidemiological pathways. <i>Hyalesthes obsoletus</i> (Hemiptera, Cixiidae) is a prominent CaPsol vector with three plant associations in Serbia (<i>ex Urtica dioica</i>/HobsUd; <i>ex Convolvulus arvensis</i>/HobsCa; <i>ex Crepis foetida</i>/HobsCf). Another cixiid planthopper, <i>Reptalus quinquecostatus</i> (Dufour), has been recently confirmed as a noteworthy CaPsol vector. A multi-test study assessed the relevance of <i>H. obsoletus</i> associations and <i>R. quinquecostatus</i> populations from <i>Crataegus monogyna</i> and <i>Prunus spinosa</i> in CaPsol occurrence in sugar beet, maize, and tobacco. Molecular typing of the CaPsol strains transmitted to test plants in experimental trials provided the first evidence of HobsUd transmitting CaPsol tuf-a type to sugar beet, HobsCa infecting maize and tobacco with tuf-b type, and HobsCf transmitting CaPsol tuf-b to maize. Affiliation of <i>R. quinquecostatus</i> with the specific CaPsol genotype, dSTOLg, was reaffirmed in this study. The possible involvement of <i>R. quinquecostatus</i> in maize redness disease and tobacco stolbur was suggested, given that this cixiid was identified as a vector of CaPsol to these crops. The obtained results indicate that the tested vectors pose a threat to cultivated plants in Serbia, underscoring the need to recognize their relevance in CaPsol disease occurrences.
|
|---|