Plant Disease (2006) 90, 284-290

Rosemarie Tedeschi and Alberto Alma (2006)
Fieberiella florii (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha) as a vector of `Candidatus Phytoplasma mali'
Plant Disease 90 (3), 284-290
Abstract: Laboratory trials were carried out to transmit "Candidatus Phytoplasma mali" to healthy apple seedlings with the leafhopper Fieberiella florii. Experiments on serial inoculation access period and molecular analyses performed on test plants and insects confirmed the ability of the leafhopper to carry and transmit the phytoplasma. Field surveys by means of yellow sticky traps were conducted in northwestern Italy to verify the abundance and the natural infectivity of F. florii in apple orchards and in wild vegetation in areas surrounding apple orchards. Despite the high percentages of infected specimens obtained in the apple orchards (5.7%) and in the wild vegetation areas (20.0%), the risk of apple tree infection by F. florii in nature is probably low because of the very low insect density recorded. In spite of the low number of specimens collected, the presence of the leafhopper in apple orchards in summer, when the main vector, the psyllid Cacopsylla melanoneura, feeds on alternative hosts, is meaningful. Moreover, the high degree of polyphagy of the leafhopper opens up new interesting prospects for the epidemiology of apple proliferation.
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Database assignments for author(s): Rosemarie Tedeschi, Alberto Alma

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.
	Phytoplasma mali	Apple (Malus)	Italy
	Cacopsylla melanoneura	Apple (Malus)	Italy
	Fieberiella florii	Apple (Malus)	Italy