Vineyards were surveyed for grapevine leafroll-associated viruses and their insect vectors in New York State's Finger Lakes region in 2006-2008. Grape mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus (Erhorn) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), European Fruit Lecanium, Parthenolecanium corni (Bouche), and Cottony Maple Scale, Pulvinaria acericola (Walsh and Riley) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) were identified as vector speci...

Leaves of tobacco plant cv. Xanthi-nc inoculated or systemically infected with potato virus Y, cucumber mosaic virus, potato virus X, potato aucuba mosaic virus or alfalfa mosaic virus showed varying degrees of resistance to infection with tobacco mosaic virus. The resistance was correlated with the appearance of at least three proteins not present in healthy plants. These were the proteins tha...

In comparison to single infections, co-infection of Nicotiana benthamiana with Potato virus X (PVX) and Potato virus Y (PVY) or Plum pox virus (PPV), resulted in increased systemic symptoms (synergism in pathology). Previous studies have shown that virus infections affected the accumulation of various microRNAs (miRNAs) and miRNA target genes. Our studies revealed that double infection by PVX a...

Grapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is caused by a complex of vector-borne virus species in the family Closteroviridae. GLD is present in all grape-growing regions of the world, primarily affecting wine grape varieties. The disease has emerged in the last two decades as one of the major factors affecting grape fruit quality, leading to research efforts aimed at reducing its economic impact. Most r...

Microscopic localization of endosymbiotic bacteria in three species of mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus, the long-tailed mealybug; Pseudococcus calceolariae, the citrophilus mealybug; and Pseudococcus viburni, the obscure mealybug) showed these organisms were confined to bacteriocyte cells within a bacteriome centrally located within the hemocoel. Two species of bacteria were present, with th...

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) and related Ipomoea species are frequently infected by monopartite begomoviruses (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae), known as sweepoviruses. Unlike other geminiviruses, the genomes of sweepoviruses have been recalcitrant to rendering infectious clones to date. Thus, Koch's postulates have not been fullfilled for any of the viruses in this group. Three novel...

Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas L.) are grown extensively, in tropical and temperate regions, and are important food crops worldwide. In Korea, potyviruses, including Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), Sweet potato virus C (SPVC), Sweet potato virus G (SPVG), Sweet potato virus 2 (SPV2), and Sweet potato latent virus (SPLV), have been detected in sweet potato fields at a high (~95%) inc...