Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2018) 84 (12 - e00281-18)

Simeon Rossmann, Merete Wiken Dees, Juliana Perminow, Richard Meadow and May Bente Brurberg (2018)
Soft rot Enterobacteriaceae are carried by a large range of insect species in potato fields
Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84 (12 - e00281-18)
Abstract: Pathogenic soft rot Enterobacteriaceae (SRE) belonging to the genera Pectobacterium and Dickeya cause diseases in potato and numerous other crops. Seed potatoes are the most important source of infection, but how pathogen-free tubers initially become infected remains an enigma. Since the 1920s, insects have been hypothesized to contribute to SRE transmission. To validate this hypothesis and to map the insect species potentially involved in SRE dispersal, we have analyzed the occurrence of SRE in insects recovered from potato fields over a period of 2 years. Twenty-eight yellow sticky traps were set up in 10 potato fields throughout Norway to attract and trap insects. Total DNA recovered from over 2,000 randomly chosen trapped insects was tested for SRE, using a specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) TaqMan assay, and insects that tested positive were identified by DNA barcoding. Although the occurrence of SRE-carrying insects varied, they were found in all the tested fields. While Delia species were dominant among the insects that carried the largest amount of SRE, more than 80 other SRE-carrying insect species were identified, and they had different levels of abundance. Additionally, the occurrence of SRE in three laboratory-reared insect species was analyzed, and this suggested that SRE are natural members of some insect microbiomes, with herbivorous Delia floralis carrying more SRE than the cabbage moth (Plutella xylostella) and carnivorous green lacewing larvae (Chrysoperla carnea). In summary, the high proportion, variety, and ubiquity of insects that carried SRE show the need to address this source of the pathogens to reduce the initial infection of seed material.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): May Bente Brurberg, Richard Meadow

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
transmission/dispersal of plant diseases

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Plutella xylostella		Norway
	Delia floralis		Norway
	Pectobacterium (genus)	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)	Norway
	Dickeya (genus)	Potato (Solanum tuberosum)	Norway