Widespread plant specialization in the polyphagous planthopper Hyalesthes obsoletus (Cixiidae), a major vector of stolbur phytoplasma: Evidence of cryptic speciation

Plants under Siege: Investigating the Relevance of 'Ca. P. solani' Cixiid Vectors through a Multi-Test Study

Crop losses caused by the plant pathogenic bacterium 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' (CaPsol) underscore the need to better understand its perplexing epidemiological pathways. Hyalesthes obsoletus (Hemiptera, Cixiidae) is a prominent CaPsol vector with three plant associations in Serbia (ex Urtica dioica/HobsUd; ex Convolvulus arvensis/HobsCa; ex Crepis foetida/HobsCf). Another cixiid planthopper, Reptalus quinquecostatus (Dufour), has been recently confirmed as a noteworthy CaPsol vector. A multi-test study assessed the relevance of H. obsoletus associations and R. quinquecostatus populations from Crataegus monogyna and Prunus spinosa 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 R. quinquecostatus with the specific CaPsol genotype, dSTOLg, was reaffirmed in this study. The possible involvement of R. quinquecostatus 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.

Effects of insecticides and repellents on the spread of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' under laboratory and field conditions

Recent outbreaks of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' resulted in severe losses in potatoes, vegetable crops and grapevines in certain regions of Austria and constituted a major challenge for seed potato production. Therefore, the effects of various insecticides and insect deterrents on pathogen spread were studied both in laboratory and field experiments from 2018 to 2021. In laboratory transmission experiments, field captured Hyalesthes obsoletus were caged on differently treated Catharanthus roseus for five days. The insecticides lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, acetamiprid and chlorpyriphos showed the most rapid impact on insect survival and fully prevented phytoplasma transmission. The particle film forming products kaolin and diatomaceous earth had some effect. A transfer of the promising laboratory results to potato fields, however, was achieved to a limited extent only. Treatments with pyrethroids and acetamiprid every 8-10 days over the flight period of H. obsoletus roughly halved the number of symptomatic plants and tubers in case of moderately susceptible varieties and moderate infection pressure. In the event of susceptible varieties and high disease pressure, treatment effects were hardy discernible. In practical terms, the experiments indicate that insecticide applications alone are not sufficient to mitigate the disease. Spraying of diatomaceous earth and mineral oil did not affect disease incidence in the field.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41348-023-00768-y.

N6-methyladenosine modification changes during the recovery processes for Paulownia witches' broom disease under the methyl methanesulfonate treatment

Phytoplasmas induce diseases in more than 1000 plant species and cause substantial ecological damage and economic losses, but the specific pathogenesis of phytoplasma has not yet been clarified. N ⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) is the most common internal modification of the eukaryotic Messenger RNA (mRNA). As one of the species susceptible to phytoplasma infection, the pathogenesis and mechanism of Paulownia has been extensively studied by scholars, but the m⁶A transcriptome map of Paulownia fortunei (P. fortunei) has not been reported. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of phytoplasma infection on m⁶A modification of P. fortunei and obtained the whole transcriptome m⁶A map in P. fortunei by m⁶A-seq. The m⁶A-seq results of Paulownia witches' broom (PaWB) disease and healthy samples indicate that PaWB infection increased the degree of m⁶A modification of P. fortunei. The correlation analysis between the RNA-seq and m⁶A-seq data detected that a total of 315 differentially methylated genes were predicted to be significantly differentially expressed at the transcriptome level. Moreover, the functions of PaWB-related genes were predicted by functional enrichment analysis, and two genes related to maintenance of the basic mechanism of stem cells in shoot apical meristem were discovered. One of the genes encodes the receptor protein kinase CLV2 (Paulownia_LG2G000076), and the other gene encodes the homeobox transcription factor STM (Paulownia_LG15G000976). In addition, genes F-box (Paulownia_LG17G000760) and MSH5 (Paulownia_LG8G001160) had exon skipping and mutually exclusive exon types of alternative splicing in PaWB-infected seedling treated with methyl methanesulfonate, and m⁶A modification was found in m⁶A-seq results. Moreover, Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) verified that the alternative splicing of these two genes was associated with m⁶A modification. This comprehensive map provides a solid foundation for revealing the potential function of the mRNA m⁶A modification in the process of PaWB. In future studies, we plan to verify genes directly related to PaWB and methylation-related enzymes in Paulownia to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of PaWB caused by phytoplasma invasion.

Can species naming drive scientific attention? A perspective from plant-feeding arthropods

How do researchers choose their study species? Some choices are based on ecological or economic importance, some on ease of study, some on tradition-but could the name of a species influence researcher decisions? We asked whether phytophagous arthropod species named after their host plants were more likely to be assayed for host-associated genetic differentiation (or 'HAD'; the evolution of cryptic, genetically isolated host specialists within an apparently more generalist lineage). We chose 30 arthropod species (from a Google Scholar search) for which a HAD hypothesis has been tested. We traced the etymologies of species names in the 30 corresponding genera, and asked whether HAD tests were more frequent among species whose etymologies were based on host-plant names (e.g. Eurosta solidaginis, which attacks Solidago) versus those with other etymologies (e.g. Eurosta fenestrata, from Latin fenestra, 'window'). Species with host-derived etymologies were more likely to feature in studies of HAD than those with other etymologies. We speculate that the etymology of a scientific name can draw a researcher's attention to aspects of life-history and thus influence the direction of our scientific gaze.

Epidemiological role of novel and already known 'Ca. P. solani' cixiid vectors in rubbery taproot disease of sugar beet in Serbia

Rubbery taproot disease (RTD) of sugar beet was recently associated with the plant pathogenic bacterium 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' (CaPsol) and reported throughout the Pannonian Plain with variations in severity. Tracing CaPsol epidemiological pathways was performed in the experimental sugar beet field in Rimski Šančevi (Serbia) in 2020-2021, where an RTD outbreak was recently recorded. A molecular epidemiology approach was applied to the study of three RTD occurrence scenarios: epidemic, non-epidemic and 'absence of RTD'. As a result, Hyalesthes obsoletus ex Convolvulus arvensis was detected as a CaPsol vector to sugar beet, while two other cixiids were identified for the first time as vectors of the CaPsol-induced plant disease in crops: Reptalus quinquecostatus and R. cuspidatus. R. quinquecostatus was proposed culpable for the 2020 RTD epidemic outbreak in Rimski Šančevi when dSTOLg CaPsol strain predominated in the RTD-affected sugar beet, whereas R. cuspidatus had a negligible role in RTD occurrence and displayed ambiguous involvement in CaPsol epidemiology on a wider scale. The temporal discrepancy of the offset of CaPsol dissemination and disease occurrence is the main obstacle in predicting CaPsol-induced diseases. Predicting disease occurrence and severity can only be achieved by gaining a better understanding of CaPsol epidemiological pathways and insect vectors involved in disease outbreaks.

Geographical and Temporal Diversity of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' in Wine-Growing Regions in Slovenia and Austria

As the causal agent of the grapevine yellows disease Bois noir, 'Candidatus Phytoplasma solani' has a major economic impact on grapevines. To improve the control of Bois noir, it is critical to understand the very complex epidemiological cycles that involve the multiple "Ca. P. solani" host plants and insect vectors, of which Hyalesthes obsoletus is the most important. In the present study, multiple genotyping of the tuf, secY, stamp, and vmp1 genes was performed. This involved archived grapevine samples that were collected during an official survey of grapevine yellows throughout the wine-growing regions of Slovenia (from 2003 to 2016), plus samples from Austrian grapevines, stinging nettle, field bindweed, and insect samples (collected from 2012 to 2019). The data show that the tuf-b2 type of the tuf gene has been present in eastern Slovenia since at least 2003. The hypotheses that the occurrence of the haplotypes varies due to the geographical position of Slovenia on the Italian-Slovenian Karst divide and that the haplotypes are similar between Slovenian and Austrian Styria were confirmed. The data also show haplotype changes for host plants and H. obsoletus associated with 'Ca. P. solani,' which might be linked to new epidemiological cycles of this phytoplasma that involve not just new plant sources and new insect vectors, but also climate and land-use changes.

Symptomatology, (Co)occurrence and Differential Diagnostic PCR Identification of 'Ca. Phytoplasma solani' and 'Ca. Phytoplasma convolvuli' in Field Bindweed

Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) is one of the major natural plant hosts and reservoirs of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’ (‘Ca. P. solani’), the causal agent of plant diseases in diverse agricultural crops, including Bois noir (BN) disease of grapevine. Phylogenetically, the most closely related phytoplasma to ‘Ca. P. solani’, the ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’, induces disease in field bindweed that is known by its symptoms as bindweed yellows (BY). The occurrence, coinfection and symptoms association of the two phytoplasmas in shared host plants were the subject of this study. Specific primers for the amplification of the elongation factor Tu gene (tuf) were developed for the identification of ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’ (by conventional nested PCR), as well as primers for simultaneous detection of ‘Ca. P. solani’ and ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’ by duplex SYBR Green real-time PCR. Among symptomatic bindweed plants, 25 and 41% were infected with a single phytoplasma species, ‘Ca. P. solani’ and ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’, respectively, while 34% were infected with both phytoplasmas. None of the non-symptomatic control plants carried phytoplasma, while non-symptomatic plants from our previous epidemiological studies in BN-affected vineyards were confirmed to be infected solely with ‘Ca. P. solani’. Stamp gene typing revealed Rqg50 and Rqg31 ‘Ca. P. solani’ genotypes in plants coinfected with ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’, while three diverse genotypes (Rqg50, GGY and Rpm35) were identified in a single locality with symptomatic bindweeds infected solely with ‘Ca. P. solani’. Variations in symptoms and their association with each of the phytoplasmas are described and documented. The symptom of bushy appearance could be single out as specific for ‘Ca. P. convolvuli’ infection, while occurrence of ‘Ca. P. solani’ could not be unequivocally associated with specific alterations in infected bindweeds. The results are discussed in the context of the epidemiological and ecological complexity of ‘Ca. P. solani’-induced diseases and the relationship between the two phytoplasma relatives in shared host plant.

Relationships between Hyalesthes obsoletus, Its Herbaceous Hosts and Bois Noir Epidemiology in Northern Italian Vineyards

Hyalesthes obsoletus is the vector of "Candidatus Phytoplasma (Ca. P.) solani," the causal agent of grapevine yellows Bois noir (BN). The relationships among the planthopper, its main herbaceous hosts as phytoplasma reservoirs (Convolvolus arvensis and Urtica dioica) and BN spreading were studied in northern Italy. In two areas the relationship between host plants and the phenology and survival of planthopper adults was investigated in potted plants and in field conditions. Moreover, H. obsoletus ecology, newly symptomatic grapevine occurrence and "Ca. P. solani" tuf-types' presence were studied in two vineyards (2014-2019). An earlier occurrence of H. obsoletus adults on C. arvensis than U. dioica and better adult survival of the originating host were observed. When U. dioica was prevalent, the vector occurred almost exclusively along the ditch outside the vineyard. Hyalesthes obsoletus amount varied widely from year to year and nymphal mortality due to late frosts was supposed. In one vineyard, the amount of newly symptomatic grapevines was significantly correlated with vector abundance in the previous year. The "Ca. P. solani" tuf-type was influenced by vector population levels on the two hosts. Since the abundance of H. obsoletus populations on the two hosts influences BN epidemiology and dynamics and the "Ca. P. solani" tuf-type, this must be considered in BN control strategies.

Lavender Decline in France Is Associated with Chronic Infection by Lavender-Specific Strains of "Candidatus Phytoplasma solani"

The etiology and main pathways for the spread of lavender decline, an infectious disease affecting French lavender production since the 1960s, have remained unclear, hampering the development of efficient control strategies. An extensive survey of lavender fields led to the conclusion that “Candidatus Phytoplasma solani” was chronically infecting declining lavenders and was associated with large infectious populations of Hyalesthes obsoletus planthoppers living on the crop itself. Lavender appeared to be the main reservoir host for lavender-specific phytoplasma strains, an unusual feature for this phytoplasma, which usually propagates from reservoir weeds to various economically important crops. These results point out the necessity to protect young lavender fields from the initial phytoplasma inoculum coming from surrounding lavender fields or from infected nurseries and to promote agricultural practices that reduce the development of H. obsoletus vector populations.

Lavender decline compromises French lavender production, and preliminary data have suggested the involvement of “Candidatus Phytoplasma solani” in the etiology of the disease. In order to evaluate the epidemiological role of “Ca. Phytoplasma solani,” a 3-year survey was conducted in southeastern France. “Ca. Phytoplasma solani” was detected in 19 to 56% of the declining plants, depending on seasons and cultivars, and its prevalence was correlated with symptom severity. Autumn was more favorable than spring for phytoplasma detection, and “Ca. Phytoplasma solani” incidence was higher in Lavandula angustifolia than in Lavandula intermedia hybrids. Detection of the phytoplasma fluctuated over months, supporting the chronicity of infection. Three “Ca. Phytoplasma solani” secY genotypes, S17, S16, and S14, were the most prevalent in lavender fields and were also detected in nurseries, whereas strains detected in surrounding bindweed and wild carrots were mostly of the S1 and S4 genotypes. This suggests that lavender is the main pathogen reservoir of the epidemic. Adults and nymphs of the planthopper vector Hyalesthes obsoletus were commonly captured in lavender fields and were shown to harbor mainly the prevalent phytoplasma genotypes detected in lavenders. The “Ca. Phytoplasma solani” genotype S17 was transmitted to Catharanthus roseus periwinkle by naturally infected H. obsoletus. Finally, the inventory of the bacterial community of declining lavenders that tested negative for “Ca. Phytoplasma solani” by 16S rRNA deep sequencing ruled out the involvement of other phloem-limited bacterial pathogens.

IMPORTANCE The etiology and main pathways for the spread of lavender decline, an infectious disease affecting French lavender production since the 1960s, have remained unclear, hampering the development of efficient control strategies. An extensive survey of lavender fields led to the conclusion that “Candidatus Phytoplasma solani” was chronically infecting declining lavenders and was associated with large infectious populations of Hyalesthes obsoletus planthoppers living on the crop itself. Lavender appeared to be the main reservoir host for lavender-specific phytoplasma strains, an unusual feature for this phytoplasma, which usually propagates from reservoir weeds to various economically important crops. These results point out the necessity to protect young lavender fields from the initial phytoplasma inoculum coming from surrounding lavender fields or from infected nurseries and to promote agricultural practices that reduce the development of H. obsoletus vector populations.