Newly found bugs and fungi could help fight stone fruit disease
Crop Improvement
If you grow cherries, peaches, or other stone fruit, the leafhoppers quietly feeding on your trees may carry a lethal disease, and this research points toward natural predators and microbes that could help keep them in check without more spraying.
Small insects called leafhoppers spread a plant disease that's been hurting cherry and peach orchards in Washington State. Scientists studying these leafhoppers discovered a fly that parasitizes them and a strange fungus living inside them, both of which might naturally help control their populations. They also built a quick genetic test that can spot the leafhoppers, the disease, and these natural enemies all at once, making it much easier for growers and researchers to track what's happening in their orchards.
Key Findings
First documented record of Tomosvaryella big-headed flies parasitizing Colladonus leafhoppers in Washington State
Discovery of a previously unrecognized yeast-like Hirsutella fungal symbiont in Colladonus reductus and Colladonus geminatus, with evidence of vertical transmission
Development of a five-target qPCR multiplex assay that simultaneously detects two leafhopper species, X-disease phytoplasma, a parasitic fly, and pincer wasps
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers found a new fly parasite and a previously unknown fungal symbiont that infect the leafhoppers spreading X-disease in Washington's stone fruit orchards, plus built a fast genetic test to track them all at once, opening the door to new biological pest control options.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Molecular Approaches for Biological Control of X-Disease Leafhopper Vectors in Washington State
X-disease phytoplasma remains one of the most significant threats to stone fruit production in the Pacific Northwest, with Colladonus leafhoppers serving as the primary vectors. However, vector eco...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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In botany, a drupe, or stone fruit, is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a single shell of hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside. Drupes do not split open to release the seed, i.e., they are indehiscent. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly f...