The effects of wilt symptom development and peroxidase induction on interactions between vascular wilt bacteria and cucumber beetles

Infection of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) with the bacterial pathogen Erwinia tracheiphila E. F. Smith causes vascular wilt disease in leaves, which may alter the suitability of the host plant for insects and other pathogens. In this study, densities of spotted (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber) and striped (Acalymma vittata (Fab.) cucumber beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) were higher on wilted leaves of mature and seedling field plants inoculated with E. tracheiphila. Bacterial infection or feeding by D. undecimpunctata howardii beetles increased total peroxidase enzyme activity in inoculated or infested leaves of greenhouse seedlings, but only beetle feeding induced higher activities in untreated systemic leaves on the same plants. Neither bacterial infection nor beetle infestation led to the development of systemic acquired resistance (SAR) to the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum orbiculare (Berk & Mont.) Arx. Susceptibility to this fungus was greater on E. tracheiphila-infected plants than on controls. The positive association between leaf wilt symptom development and beetle occurrence thus occurs in the presence of an oxidative but not anti-pathogenic response induced by both the insect and the pathogen.     

酸黄瓜南方根结线虫病抗性与葫芦素B含量的关系

采用高效液相色谱分析法,通过测定3种不同抗性甜瓜属作物根系中葫芦素B含量的差异,探讨酸黄瓜南方根结线虫病抗性与葫芦素B含量的关系.结果表明:(1)接种根结线虫前,供试材料根系中的葫芦素B含量以酸黄瓜的最高(1.31μg/g),非洲角次之(0.85μg/g),北京截头最低(0.35μg/g),表明酸黄瓜中葫芦素B的本体含量较高;接种根结线虫后,酸黄瓜、非洲角、北京截头根系中的葫芦素B含量升高至3.88、2.67和0.49μg/g,较相应未接种对照分别升高了2.57、1.82和0.14μg/g,表明酸黄瓜经线虫诱导后葫芦素B含量上升较大.(2)酸黄瓜受线虫危害低于非洲角并显著低于北京截头,说明酸黄瓜的抗线虫能力较强;供试材料受害程度与葫芦素B含量相关性分析表明,作物的抗线虫能力与根系中的葫芦素B含量呈正相关关系,其含量越高,抗性越强.研究认为,酸黄瓜的高葫芦素B含量是其南方根结线虫病抗性的化学证据.     

Effects of age, sex, and dietary history on response to cucurbitacin in Acalymma vittatum

The chrysomelid Acalymma vittatum is stenophagous, subsisting almost entirely on plants in the Cucurbitaceae, which generally contain cucurbitacins. Cucurbitacins are extremely bitter tetracyclic triterpenoids that are toxic to most organisms. As do other diabroticite beetles, A. vittatum sequester cucurbitacins, which have been shown to act as phagostimulants and arrestants. Our results reveal, however, that for A. vittatum the response to cucurbitacin diminishes with continued sequestration. Colony-reared A. vittatum were fed only roots (as larvae) and foliage of either `Marketmore 76' (which contains a normal amount of cucurbitacin, `bitter') or `Marketmore 80' (a near isogenic line that contains no cucurbitacin, `non-bitter') cucumber. Over 1200 individual beetles from the day of adult emergence to 15 days following emergence were placed in choice and no-choice arenas containing potted cotyledons of the two cucumber varieties for 24 h. In choice tests, overall preference for the bitter cucumber cultivar was maintained, but degree of preference changed with age and became significantly less for beetles reared on bitter diets. Furthermore, in no-choice tests, age, sex, dietary history, and interactions among these variables all significantly affected the feeding response to cucurbitacin. For A. vittatum reared without cucurbitacin, total consumption of the bitter cultivar increased over time. For beetles reared with cucurbitacin, total foliage consumption of the bitter cultivar declined, within nine days, to equal that of the non-bitter cultivar. Feral A. vittatum, unexpectedly, consumed more of the non-bitter than the bitter cultivar in no-choice tests. Ecological and applied implications of this variation in response to cucurbitacin are discussed.     

Disease Interactions in a Shared Host Plant: Effects of Pre-Existing Viral Infection on Cucurbit Plant Defense Responses and Resistance to Bacterial Wilt Disease

Both biotic and abiotic stressors can elicit broad-spectrum plant resistance against subsequent pathogen challenges. However, we currently have little understanding of how such effects influence broader aspects of disease ecology and epidemiology in natural environments where plants interact with multiple antagonists simultaneously. In previous work, we have shown that healthy wild gourd plants (Cucurbita pepo ssp. texana) contract a fatal bacterial wilt infection (caused by Erwinia tracheiphila) at significantly higher rates than plants infected with Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). We recently reported evidence that this pattern is explained, at least in part, by reduced visitation of ZYMV-infected plants by the cucumber beetle vectors of E. tracheiphila. Here we examine whether ZYMV-infection may also directly elicit plant resistance to subsequent E. tracheiphila infection. In laboratory studies, we assayed the induction of key phytohormones (SA and JA) in single and mixed infections of these pathogens, as well as in response to the feeding of A. vittatum cucumber beetles on healthy and infected plants. We also tracked the incidence and progression of wilt disease symptoms in plants with prior ZYMV infections. Our results indicate that ZYMV-infection slightly delays the progression of wilt symptoms, but does not significantly reduce E. tracheiphila infection success. This observation supports the hypothesis that reduced rates of wilt disease in ZYMV-infected plants reflect reduced visitation by beetle vectors. We also documented consistently strong SA responses to ZYMV infection, but limited responses to E. tracheiphila in the absence of ZYMV, suggesting that the latter pathogen may effectively evade or suppress plant defenses, although we observed no evidence of antagonistic cross-talk between SA and JA signaling pathways. We did, however, document effects of E. tracheiphila on induced responses to herbivory that may influence host-plant quality for (and hence pathogen acquisition by) cucumber beetles.     

Evaluation of cucurbitacin-based gustatory stimulant to facilitate cucumber beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) management with foliar insecticides in melons

The bitter plant-derived compounds cucurbitacins are known to stimulate feeding of adult cucumber beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). A cucurbitacin-based gustatory stimulant applied as a flowable bait combined with either spinosad or carbaryl was compared with foliar sprays of spinosad and carbaryl for controlling two cucumber beetle species (Diabrotica undecimpunctata undecimpunctata Mannerheim and Acalymma trivittatum Mannerheim) in honeydew melons (Cucumis melo L.). Field studies were conducted on the University of California-Davis plant pathology farm in 2008 and 2009. Beetle densities after applications and fruit damage from beetle feeding were compared among treatments. In addition, beetle survival was compared within field cages placed over the treated foliage infested with beetles. Using all three measures of efficacy, we determined that the addition of cucurbitacin bait had no effect on the level of cucumber beetle control with carbaryl in either 2008 or 2009. In both years, spinosad did not significantly reduce cucumber beetle densities in either field cages or field plots and did not reduce fruit damage relative to the untreated control. The addition of the bait to spinosad did not improve its efficacy. A laboratory bioassay of the spinosad formulation used in the field showed it had significant lethal effects on adults of both cucumber beetle species. Results indicated that the bait formulation used did not improve cucumber beetle control but may benefit from the addition of floral attractants or using a different type of cucurbitacin.     

Influence of Methyl Bromide Fumigation on Microbe-induced Resistance in Cucumber

Field experiments were conducted to evaluate growth promotion and induced systemic disease resistance (ISR) in cucumber mediated by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with and without methyl bromide soil fumigation. In both fumigated and nonfumigated plots, numbers of cucumber beetles, Acalymma vittata (F.), and the incidence of bacterial wilt disease, caused by the beetle-transmitted pathogen Erwinia tracheiphila , were significantly lower with PGPR treatment compared with the nonbacterized control. However, in PGPR-treated plots, the incidence of bacterial wilt was more than 2-fold lower in the nonfumigated treatments compared with fumigated treatments, indicating that the level of PGPR-mediated ISR was greater without methyl bromide fumigation than with methyl bromide. Cucumber plant growth at 21 days after planting was greater in fumigated plots than in nonfumigated plots; however, plant height values in the nonfumigated, PGPR treatments and the fumigated, PGPR treatments were equivalent. This suggests that PGPR treatment compensated for delayed plant growth that often occurs in nonfumigated soil. These results indicate that, in cucumber production systems, withdrawal of methyl bromide will not negatively impact PGPRmediated ISR, and also that PGPR may have potential as an alternative to methyl bromide fumigation.     

Resistance and tolerance to herbivory changes with inbreeding and ontogeny in a wild gourd (Cucurbitaceae)

Herbivory is a ubiquitous component of terrestrial communities that reduces plant growth and reproduction. Consequently, a goal of evolutionary ecology is to identify the causes and consequences of variation in herbivory within plant populations. This three-year study examined the effects of inbreeding on the resistance of wild gourd plants (Cucurbita pepo subsp. texana) to herbivory by cucumber beetles and the impact of the timing of herbivory on reproduction. We grew families of inbred and outbred gourds and recorded beetle damage at three developmental stages, incidence of beetle-vectored wilt disease, survival, and reproduction. While total beetle damage significantly depressed flower and fruit production, damage until mid-July did not depress any measure of reproduction, indicating that these gourds are tolerant of moderate levels of herbivory for most of the growing season. However, beetle damage accumulating after mid-July significantly depressed reproduction, indicating that plants have reduced tolerance during peak reproduction. Early damage, however, did increase the probability of contracting a deadly wilt disease that is vectored by the beetles, suggesting that tolerance and resistance are not alternative defense strategies. Inbreeding significantly reduced resistance to herbivory and, independently of beetle damage, reproductive output. Finally, we found additive genetic variation for both resistance and tolerance that varies with ontogeny.     

Induction of resistance in tomato against cucumber mosaic cucumovirus by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

Studies were done to evaluate specific strains of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for induced resistance against cucumber mosaic cucumovirus(CMV) in tomato. In greenhouse experiments where plants were challenged by mechanical inoculation of CMV, the percentage of symptomatic plants in the most effective PGPR treatments ranged from 32 to 58%,compared with 88 to 98% in the nonbacterized, challenged disease control treatment. Field experiments were conducted in 1996 and 1997 to evaluate 4 PGPR strain treatments based on superior performance in the greenhouse studies. In the 1996field experiment, tomato plants treated with 3 PGPR strains exhibited a significantly lower incidence of CMV infection and significantly higher yields, compared with nonbacterized, CMV-challenged controls. In 1997, the overall percentages of plants infected with CMV in the control and PGPR treatments was higher than in 1996. CMV symptom development was significantly reduced on PGPR-treated plants in 1997compared with the control, but the percentage of infected plants and tomato yields were not significantly different among treatments. These results suggest that PGPR-mediated induced resistance against CMV infection following mechanical inoculation onto tomato can be maintained under field conditions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

两个不同抗性黄瓜品种和云南黑籽南瓜根系分泌物对黄瓜枯萎病发生的影响

研究了黄瓜品种津研4号（感枯萎病）、津春4号（抗枯萎病）和云南黑籽南瓜根系分泌物对津研4号黄瓜枯萎病发生的影响及其原因.结果表明:感病品种根系分泌物处理的黄瓜枯萎病发病早,接种后第15天病株率显著高于对照,至第20天时病株率与对照相近;而抗病品种根系分泌物处理的病株率一直显著小于对照.感病品种根系分泌物浇灌的植株株高、鲜质量降低,根系活力下降、电导度（伤害度）增加,而抗病品种和云南黑籽南瓜根系分泌物处理对植株影响较小.感病品种根系分泌物促进了黄瓜枯萎病菌的生长,而抗病品种和云南黑籽南瓜根系分泌物则抑制了病菌生长.     

A Male-Produced Aggregation Pheromone Facilitating Acalymma vittatum [F.] (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Early-Season Host Plant Colonization

We conducted field studies to investigate the involvement of volatile cues in early-season host plant colonization by striped cucumber beetle, Acalymma vittatum (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Wind-directed traps were baited with male or female A. vittatum, potted cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedlings that were of near-isogenic lines which either contained or lacked cucurbitacin, or combinations of male or female A. vittatum feeding on one or the other cucumber variety. We found no response to undamaged plants of either cucumber variety or plants that were actively being fed upon by A. vittatum females, whereas the response to volatiles associated with male A. vittatum was strong. Both male and female conspecifics and totals of up to sevenfold the number of males in the trap lures were caught overnight. Feeding males attracted more than double the number of conspecifics that responded to nonfeeding males. Active consumption of cucurbitacin in the plant on which the males were feeding, however, had no effect on attraction. A shift in sex ratio from a male to a female bias during field colonization season also supports the hypothesis that host finding is initiated by pioneer males. The importance of this aggregation pheromone in early-season host plant colonization and the evolutionary and adaptive significance of this pheromone are discussed.