Fitopatologia Brasileira (2002) 27, 91-95

Charles M. Oliveira, Rosa M.S. Molina, Rosenir S. Albres and João R.S. Lopes (2002)
Disseminação de molicutes do milho a longas distâncias por Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)
[Long-distance spread of maize mollicutes by Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)]
Fitopatologia Brasileira 27 (1), 91-95
Abstract: This study was designed to test the hypothesis that Dalbulus maidis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) serves as a natural source of mollicutes (Spiroplasma kunkelii and phytoplasma) that infect maize (Zea mays) in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil. The natural infectivity of D. maidis migrants was evaluated in spring plantings of 1997 and 1998 in the region of Anastácio (MS), where maize is not cultivated from April to September. Live leafhoppers were sampled in areas where: (A) maize was planted annually in the spring (October/December), and (B) maize had not been cultivated for several years. In a greenhouse, the leafhoppers were confined to healthy maize seedlings for pathogen inoculation. Two months later, the test plants were rated for diagnostic symptoms of S. kunkelii and tested by PCR for phytoplasma infection. Based on the transmission bioassays, S. kunkelii and phytoplasma were detected in 2 to 20% and 1 to 4% of the collected individuals, respectively. The appearance of infective adults soon after maize germination, even in the areas where maize had not been cultivated for several years, suggests that the mollicutes were transported by migratory individuals of D. maidis.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
(original language: Portuguese)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): João Roberto Spotti Lopes, Charles Martins de Oliveira

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.
	Spiroplasma kunkelii	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	Brazil (south)
	Dalbulus maidis	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	Brazil (south)