To understand ecological factors mediating the spread of insect-borne plant pathogens, vector species for these pathogens need to be identified. Grapevine leafroll disease is caused by a complex of phylogenetically related closteroviruses, some of which are transmitted by insect vectors; however, the specificities of these complex virus-vector interactions are poorly understood thus far. Throug...

The solenopsis mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, has been recently recognized as an aggressively invasive pest in China, and is now becoming a serious threat to the cotton industry in the country. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the molecular mechanisms employed by cotton for defending against P. solenopsis before the pest populations reach epidemic levels. Here, we examined the effects of...

Microbial symbioses are interesting in their own right and also serve as exemplary models to help biologists to understand two important symbioses in the evolutionary past of eukaryotic cells: the origins of chloroplasts and mitochondria. Most, if not all, microbial symbioses have a chemical basis: compounds produced by one partner are useful for the other. But symbioses can also entail the tra...

The family Closteroviridae consists of two genera, Closterovirus and Ampelovirus with monopartite genomes transmitted respectively by aphids and mealybugs and the Crinivirus with bipartite genomes transmitted by whiteflies. The Closteroviridae consists of more than 30 virus species, which differ considerably in their phytopathological significance. Some, like beet yellows virus and citrus trist...

Developmental time, longevity, and lifetime fertility of three previously introduced parasitoids (Acerophagus papayae Noyes and Schauff, Anagyrus loecki Noyes and Menezes, and Pseudleptomastix mexicana Noyes and Schauff) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) of the mealybug Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) were studied in the laboratory to understand the ou...

Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is a worldwide pathogen of Vitis negatively affecting wine production. In red berry cultivars grown in New Zealand, the foliar changes to GLRaV-3-infected vines inform decisions on vine removal (roguing). However, roguing does not always contain GLRaV-3 spread presence an insect vector like mealybug, Pseudococcus calceolariae. Virus incidence and ...