BACKGROUND Spiroplasma citri is a wall-less bacterium that colonizes phloem vessels of a large number of host plants. Leafhopper vectors transmit S. citri in a propagative and circulative manner, involving colonization and multiplication of bacteria in various insect organs. Previously we reported that phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), the well-known glycolytic enzyme, bound to leafhopper actin an...

Leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadellidae) account for more than 80% of all "Auchenorrhynchous" vectors that transmit phytoplasmas. The leafhopper populations in two almond witches'-broom phytoplasma (AlmWB) infected sites: Tanboureet (south of Lebanon) and Bourj El Yahoudieh (north of Lebanon) were surveyed using yellow sticky traps. The survey revealed that the most abundant speci...

Beet curly top virus (BCTV), transmitted by the beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenellus) has caused significant problems to irrigated agriculture in the western United States since the late 1800s. Although managed annually through an intensive leafhopper eradication program, BCTV re-emerged in 2001 as a serious threat to agriculture in California's San Joaquin Valley. BCTV infects a broad range of...

Carrot purple leaf disease was first reported in 2006 in the state of Washington and was associated with Spiroplasma citri. The disease also was reported in California in 2008. The objectives of this work were to fulfill Koch's postulates and to determine 1) whether the beet leafhopper, Circulifer tenellus (Baker) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), transmits carrot [Daucus carota L. subsp. Sativus (Hof...