Diversity of ampeloviruses in mealybug and soft scale vectors and in grapevine hosts from leafroll-affected vineyards.
The occurrence and diversity of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 1 (GLRaV-1) and Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) in the soft scales Parthenolecanium corni and Pulvinaria innumerabilis and in the mealybug Pseudococcus maritimus was determined in leafroll-affected vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Groups of 1 to 4 specimens were collected under loose grapevine bark and tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for segments of the second diverged copy of the GLRaV-1 coat protein gene or GLRaV-3 heat-shock protein 70-homologue gene. Virus-specific RT-PCR products were amplified from immature insect vectors and adult mealybugs. Single viral amplicons were obtained mostly from immature vectors (35%, 30 of 85) and dual viral amplicons from immature (16%, 10 of 61) and adult (100%, 14 of 14) mealybugs, including individuals. These observations suggested a simultaneous uptake of GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-3 by individual mealybugs. Furthermore, a comparative nucleotide sequence analysis of viral amplicons from soft scales, mealybugs, and grapevines from which vectors were collected showed identical or highly similar haplotypes, indicating that uptake of GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-3 likely occurred by direct feeding of vectors on their host plants.
Fuchs
M
M
Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY 14456, USA. mf13@cornell.edu
Marsella-Herrick
P
P
Loeb
G M
GM
Martinson
T E
TE
Hoch
H C
HC
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000821:virology*; D009518:New York; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D010942:Plant Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D027843:Vitis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000821:virology*
D018744:DNA, Plant