Journal of Entomological Science (2003) 38, 644-653

Cameron G. Lait, Daniel R. Miller, Sarah L. Bates, John H. Borden and Allison R. Kermode (2003)
Biochemical assay detects feeding damage to loblolly pine seeds caused by the leaffooted pine seed bug (Hemiptera: Coreidae)
Journal of Entomological Science 38 (4), 644-653
Abstract: A large number of proteins in salivary gland extracts of the leaffooted pine seed bug, Leptoglossus corculus Say, were strongly recognized by a polyclonal antibody-based assay developed for detecting saliva of the western conifer seed bug. Leptoglossus occidentalis Heidemann, in lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelmann, seeds. An average of approximately 85% of loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., seeds exposed to feeding by L. corculus for 1 to 4 weeks in the laboratory contained detectable amounts of salivary proteins when the antibody assays were performed weekly on samples (n = 10) of seed. In comparison, radiography of exposed seed detected an average of approximately 63% damaged seed over the same 4-wk period, indicating that the antibody assay increased sensitivity of damage detection by approximately one-third. Depletion of insoluble polypeptides and proliferation of soluble polypeptides < 23.5 kDa was apparent after SDS-PAGE and quantitative assays were performed on proteins extracted from seeds that were damaged by exposure to L. corculus feeding. Our data suggest that the antibody-based test could be used to obtain accurate estimates of seed losses attributable to L. corculus feeding in southern pine seed orchards.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): John H. Borden, Daniel R. Miller

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
damage/losses/economics
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Leptoglossus corculus	Pine (Pinus)