Abstract
The spread of potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) and the resulting phloem necrosis in the tubers has been a limiting factor in the production of the Netted Gem (Russet Burbank) variety in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Steckling sugar beets are an important overwintering host for nymphs and adults of the green peach aphid,Myzus persicae (Sulzer). By June, aphids are widely disseminated to the florets and new leaves of sugar beet and other hosts, including potato. Colonies with alates are produced on summer hosts which are not treated with insecticides. The peak of the flight of alates from the colonies on the summer hosts occurs during the first half of August. Those alates that were produced on PLRV-infected potato and which travel to other potatoes transmit the virus as soon as they feed. By the end of August, the sugar beet seed crops and the early and mid-season potato crops have been defoliated or harvested. Thus many colonies ofM. persicae are destroyed and the threat of PLRV spread diminishes. Crop and weed plants which serve as overwintering hosts become infested during late summer with alate aphids. Their offspring survive the winter in numbers which are determined by the weather and survival of host plants.
Resumen
La plaga de virus que causa el enrollado de hoja (PLRV) y la resultante necrosis del floema en los tubérculos han sido factores limitantes en la producción de la variedad Netted Gem (Russet Burbank) en el suroeste de la Columbia Británica, Canadá. La remolacha de azúcar Steckling es un importante huésped sobre el cual las nimfas y los adultos del áfido verde del durazno,Myzus persicae (Sulzer) pasan el invierno. En junio los áfidos se encuentran por doquiera, en la inflorescencia y hojas nuevas de la remolacha y en otros huéspedes incluso la papa. Colonias con individuos alados aparecen en los huéspedes de verano que no fueron tratados con insecticidas. El máximo de vuelo de individuos alados desde las colonias a los huéspedes de verano tiene lugar durante la primera mitad de agosto. Los individuos alados que fueron producidos en papas infectadas con PLRV y que vuelan a otras plantas de papa transmiten el virus cuando se alimentan. Hacia el fin de agosto la remolacha y las papas tempranas y de media estación han sido deshojadas o cosechadas. De esta manera muchas colonias deM. persicae son destruidas y la amenaza de la distribución de PLRV disminuye. Los sembrados y las malezas utilizadas como huéspedes de invierno son infectadas hacia el fin de verano en números determinados por el clima, y por la sobrevivencia de plantas huéspedes.
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Contribution No. 163 from Research Station, 6660 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver 8, British Columbia, Canada.
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Wright, N.S., MacCarthy, H.R. & Forbes, A.R. Epidemiology of potato leaf roll virus in the Fraser River delta of British Columbia. American Potato Journal 47, 1–8 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02865038
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02865038