Abstract
Severe aphid outbreaks were recorded on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.) during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 cropping seasons in Argentina. The general aspect of the aphids resembled that of Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner, 1897), a sugarcane pest occasionally attacking sorghum, reported in the country almost forty years ago. However, its rapid spread and extraordinary abundance on Sorghum spp. raised doubts about the species identity. To address this issue, aphids were sampled from heavily infested sorghum crops and volunteer Johnson grass plants throughout northern and central Argentina and subjected to direct partial sequencing of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1-α) genes. Sequence analyses provided evidence that the species causing the outbreaks on Sorghum spp. was, in fact, the closely related Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald, 1904), which had not been previously recorded in Argentina. The lack of genetic variability among the newly obtained sequences suggests the presence of a predominant clonal lineage. A broader population genetics study including further molecular markers, and the evaluation of pest management practices deserve future research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Sequences are available at GenBank under accession numbers ON931421-ON931443 (COI) and ON939644-ON939653 (EF1-α).
References
Armstrong, J. S., Rooney, W. L., Peterson, G. C., Villenueva, R. T., Brewer, M. J., & Sekula-Ortiz, D. (2015). Sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae): Host range and sorghum resistance including cross-resistance from greenbug sources. Journal of Economic Entomology, 108, 576–582.
Asinari, F., Pérez Gómez, S. G., Easdale, C., Rago, A. M., Balzarini, M., & Cafrune, E. E. (2020). Impact of yellow leaf virus on sugarcane commercial fields. Tropical Plant Pathology, 46, 37–43.
Bowling, R. D., Brewer, M. J., Kerns, D. L., Gordy, J., Seiter, N., Elliott, N. E., Buntin, G. D., Way, M. O., Royer, T. A., Biles, S., & Maxson, E. (2016). Sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae): A new Pest on Sorghum in North America. Journal of Integrated Pest Management, 7, 12.
Casuso, V. M., Tarrago, J. R., Nadal, N. J., Kaleb, C. & Giménez, G. (2021). Evaluación de distintos tratamientos de insecticidas para el control del pulgón amarillo del sorgo. Technical Note, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Argentina. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/8975. Accessed Aug 2022.
Delfino, M. A. (1984). Hallazgo del áfido de la caña de azúcar, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner, 1897) en la Argentina y Uruguay. Revista de Investigación CIRPON, 2, 57–64.
Doyle, J. J., & Doyle, J. L. (1990). Isolation of plant DNA from fresh tissue. Focus, 12, 13–15.
Folmer, O., Black, M., Hoeh, W., Lutz, R., & Vrijenhoek, R. (1994). DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology, 3, 294–299.
Harris-Shultz, K., Armstrong, J. S., Carvalho Jr., G., Segundo, J. P., & Ni, X. (2022). Melanaphis sorghi (Hemiptera: Aphididae) clonal diversity in the United States and Brazil. Insects, 13, 416.
McAllister, C. D., Hoy, J. W., & Reagan, T. E. (2008). Temporal increase and spatial distribution of sugarcane yellow leaf and infestations of the aphid vector, Melanaphis sacchari. Plant Disease, 92, 607–615.
Nibouche, S., Costet, L., Medina, R. F., Holt, J. R., Sadeyen, J., Zoogones, A.-S., Brown, P., & Blackman, R. L. (2021). Morphometric and molecular discrimination of the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari, (Zehntner, 1897) and the sorghum aphid Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald, 1904). PLoS One, 16, e0241881.
Paudyal, S., Armstrong, J. S., Harris-Shultz, K., Wang, H., Giles, K., Rott, P., & Payton, M. (2019). Evidence of host plant specialization among the U.S. sugarcane aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) genotypes. Trends in Entomology, 15, 47–58.
Remaudière, G., & Remaudière, M. (1997). Catalogue des Aphididae du Monde. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique.
Saluso, A., Decuyper, C., Díaz, M. G., & Cuatrin, A. (2021). Impact of Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera. Aphididae) on grain sorghum cultivars in Paraná (Entre Ríos). IV National Symposium and II International Conference on sorghum, Argentina. http://simposionacionaldesorgo.aianba.org.ar/f_trabajos/0016_msrwuo.pdf. Accessed Aug 2022.
Saluso, A., Casuso, V. M., Tarragó, J., Szwarc, D., Luna, I, Druetta, M., & Trumper, E. (2022). Pulgón amarillo del sorgo en la República Argentina. Distribución, impacto, biología y manejo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. 27pp. https://inta.gob.ar/sites/default/files/inta_saluso_a_pulgon_amarillo_del_sorgo_en_la_republica_argentina.pdf. Accessed June 2022.
Souza, M. F., & Davis, J. A. (2021). Characterizing host plant resistance to Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in selected Sorghum plant introductions. Journal of Economic Entomology, 114, 959–969.
Szwarc, D., Almada, M. & Vitti, D. (2021). Chemical control of the sugarcane aphid Melanaphis sacchari (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in sorghum. IV National Symposium and II International Conference on sorghum, Argentina. http://simposionacionaldesorgo.aianba.org.ar/f_trabajos/0018_ c91jgu.pdf. Accessed Aug 2022.
von Dohlen, C. D., Kurosu, U., & Aoki, S. (2002). Phylogenetics and evolution of the eastern Asian–eastern north American disjunct aphid tribe, Hormaphidini (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 23, 257–267.
Acknowledgements
Cecilia Decker-Franco holds a postdoctoral fellowship and Joel Demián Arneodo is a researcher of Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina).
Funding
This work was funded by Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA, Argentina).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Emilia Inés Balbi, Adriana Saluso and Joel Demián Arneodo conceived the work. Emilia Inés Balbi, Diego Szwarc, Violeta Macarena Casuso and Adriana Saluso identified and collected Melanaphis specimens. Emilia Inés Balbi, Cecilia Decker-Franco and Joel Demián Arneodo extracted DNA and performed PCR. Joel Demián Arneodo and Emilia Inés Balbi analysed sequences. Joel Demián Arneodo wrote the manuscript. All authors revised and edited the manuscript. Joel Demián Arneodo and Emilia Inés Balbi secured funding.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Balbi, E.I., Decker-Franco, C., Szwarc, D. et al. Unveiling the occurrence of Melanaphis sorghi in Argentina following a major aphid outbreak. Phytoparasitica 51, 13–18 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-022-01029-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-022-01029-8