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Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) transmits Acidovorax citrulli, causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch of watermelon

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Abstract

The two-spotted spider mite (TSSM) Tetranychus urticae is one of the most important pests of cucurbit plants. If TSSM can act as vector for Acidovorax citrulli (Acc), causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch (BFB), then the movement of mites from infected to healthy plants may represent a potential source of inocula for BFB outbreaks. To confirm the association between Acc and TSSM, we generated a green fluorescent protein-tagged mutant strain (Acc02rf) by transposon mutagenesis and demonstrated that TSSM can transmit Acc from infected to non-infected watermelon plants. Challenge with 10 TSSMs carrying Acc02rf population densities of 1.3 × 103 CFU each on freshly grown individual watermelon plants caused disease transmission to 53 %. Incubation periods ranged 7–9 days. Bacteria recovered from symptoms typical of those associated with leaf necrosis were characterized and identified as Acc. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that TSSM can be a vector of Acc. The results reported here support that the strong association of TSSM with Acc is of particular importance in controlling BFB.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2015R1A6A1A03031413).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Okhee Choi & Jinwoo Kim

  2. Department of Plant Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Jung-Joon Park

  3. Division of Applied Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Jinwoo Kim

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  1. Okhee Choi
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  2. Jung-Joon Park
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  3. Jinwoo Kim
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Correspondence to Jinwoo Kim.

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Choi, O., Park, JJ. & Kim, J. Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) transmits Acidovorax citrulli, causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch of watermelon. Exp Appl Acarol 69, 445–451 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0048-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0048-z

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