Disrupting transmission of Candidatus Liberbacter asiaticus with antimicrobial therapy

Disrupting transmission of Candidatus Liberbacter asiaticus with antimicrobial therapy

Report Date: 03/12/2019
Project: RMC 18-018   Year: 2019
Category: ACP Vector
Author: Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski
Sponsor: Citrus Research and Development Foundation

Psyllids feeding on treated plants may ingest antimicrobials, which may have the potential to harm psyllids due to their reliance on bacterial endosymbionts for survival. Antimicrobial treatments may negatively affect a variety of psyllid biological features, including fecundity, transmission capacity, life span, developmental time, and behavior.� The current objective was to evaluate the effect of dietary exposure to antibiotics on�D. citri�survival in a greenhouse bioassay. Feeding solutions containing oxytetracycline (Fireline) or streptomycin (Firewall) were orally administered to�D. citri. D. citri mortality was significantly higher when insects fed on artificial diet solutions containing 1mg ml-1 oxytetracycline, 5mg ml-1 oxytetracycline, or imidacloprid. Approximate 40% and 100% mortality occurred among�D. citri that fed on 5 mg ml-1 of oxytetracycline after 3-d and 10-d, respectively. Greater mortality occurred in response to the high oxytetracycline concentration than the low concentration on day 3 (25%) and day 10 (63%).�� D. citri mortality in response to untreated diet was approximately 20% and 30% on days 3 and 10, respectively. Neither 5 mg ml-1 nor 1 mg ml-1 streptomycin exhiwas associated with significant�D. citri mortality as compared with untreated diet. After 30d, 40% of�D. citri that fed on untreated or streptomycin diets survived. Subsequent assays will evaluate the effect of foliar applied antimicrobial treatments on�D. citri survival and CLas transmission.�


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