Phytoplasmas, uncultivable phloem-limited phytopathogenic wall-less bacteria, represent a major threat to agriculture worldwide. They are transmitted in a persistent, propagative manner by phloem-sucking Hemipteran insects. Phytoplasma membrane proteins are in direct contact with hosts and are presumably involved in determining vector specificity. Such a role has been proposed for phytoplasma transmembrane proteins encoded by circular extrachromosomal elements, at least one of which is a plasmid. Little is known about the interactions between major phytoplasma antigenic membrane protein (Amp) and insect vector proteins. The aims of our work were to identify vector proteins interacting with Amp and to investigate their role in transmission specificity. In controlled transmission experiments, four Hemipteran species were identified as vectors of “Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris”, the chrysanthemum yellows phytoplasmas (CYP) strain, and three others as non-vectors. Interactions between a labelled (recombinant) CYP Amp and insect proteins were analysed by far Western blots and affinity chromatography. Amp interacted specifically with a few proteins from vector species only. Among Amp-binding vector proteins, actin and both the α and β subunits of ATP synthase were identified by mass spectrometry and Western blots. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy and Western blots of plasma membrane and mitochondrial fractions confirmed the localisation of ATP synthase, generally known as a mitochondrial protein, in plasma membranes of midgut and salivary gland cells in the vector Euscelidius variegatus. The vector-specific interaction between phytoplasma Amp and insect ATP synthase is demonstrated for the first time, and this work also supports the hypothesis that host actin is involved in the internalization and intracellular motility of phytoplasmas within their vectors. Phytoplasma Amp is hypothesized to play a crucial role in insect transmission specificity.

Flavescence dorée phytoplasma (FDP) titre in two red grapevine cultivars, Barbera and Nebbiolo, was measured over the vegetative seasons of two consecutive years in two vineyards of the Piemonte Region (northwestern Italy), with a double absolute quantification of FDP cells and grapevine DNA in real‐time PCR. The relationships of pathogen concentration to cultivar susceptibility and symptom severity were investigated. FDP titre was always higher in cv. Barbera than in cv. Nebbiolo infected vines, and this difference was significant at early and late summer samplings of 2008 and at early summer sampling of 2009. A seasonal trend in FDP concentration (low in spring, high in early summer and intermediate in late summer) was conserved for cvs Barbera and Nebbiolo in both years and vineyards. Considering both cultivars and years from both vineyards, a significant positive correlation between FDP concentration and symptom severity was found in the spring samples. Regarding the FDP strains (‐C or ‐D), no differences in pathogen titres were detected for either cultivar. Similarly, the presence of another grapevine yellows phytoplasma, bois noir, a subgroup 16SrXII‐A phytoplasma, in mixed infection with FDP strains had no effect on FDP concentration. These results demonstrate for the first time that grapevine cultivars with different susceptibility to FDP support different pathogen titres.

The titer of chrysanthemum yellows phytoplasma (CYP, "Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris") in the three vector species Euscelis incisus Kirschbaum, Euscelidius variegatus Kirschbaum, and Macrosteles quadripunctulatus Kirschbaum (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) was measured after controlled acquisition from infected Chrysanthemum carinatum (Schousboe) (daisy) plants. Phytoplasma DNA was quantified in relation to insect DNA (genome units [GU] of phytoplasma DNA per ng of insect DNA) by using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure. The increase in phytoplasma titer recorded in hoppers after they were transferred to plants that were nonhosts for CYP provides definitive evidence for phytoplasma multiplication in leafhoppers. CYP multiplication over time in M. quadripunctulatus was much faster than in E. incisus and E. variegatus. CYP titer was also highest in M. quadripunctulatus, and this was reflected in the latent period in the insect. The mean latent period of CYP in M. quadripunctulatus was 18 d versus 30 d in E. variegatus. M. quadripunctulatus was the most efficient vector, giving 100% transmission for single insects compared with 75-82% for E. incisus or E. variegatus, respectively. By sequential transmission, we analyzed the time course of transmission: E. variegatus were persistently infective for life or until shortly before death. Occasionally, leafhoppers failed to maintain continuity of infectivity even after completion of the latent period. PCR analysis of transmitter and nontransmitter E. variegatus adults showed that some nontransmitters were CYP positive, whereas others were CYP negative. These findings suggest that both midgut and salivary gland barriers play a role in transmission efficiency.

Three real-time PCR-based assays for the specific diagnosis of flavescence dorée (FD), bois noir (BN) and apple proliferation (AP) phytoplasmas and a universal one for the detection of phytoplasmas belonging to groups 16Sr-V, 16Sr-X and 16Sr-XII have been developed. Ribosomal-based primers CYS2Fw/Rv and Taq-Man probe CYS2 were used for universal diagnosis in real-time PCR. For groupspecific detection of FD phytoplasma, ribosomal-based primers fAY/rEY, specific for 16Sr-V phytoplasmas, were chosen. For diagnosis of BN and AP phytoplasmas, specific primers were designed on non-ribosomal and nitroreductase DNA sequences, respectively. SYBR Ò Green I detection coupled with melting curve analysis was used in each group-specific protocol. Field-collected grapevines infected with FD and BN phytoplasmas and apple trees infected with AP phytoplasma, together with Scaphoideus titanus, Hyalesthes obsoletus and Cacopsylla melanoneura adults, captured in the same vineyards and orchards, were used as templates in real-time PCR assays. The diagnostic efficiency of each group-specific protocol was compared with well-established detection procedures, based on conventional nested PCR. Universal amplification was obtained in real-time PCR from DNAs of European aster yellows (16Sr-I), elm yellows (16Sr-V), stolbur (16Sr-XII) and AP phytoplasma reference isolates maintained in periwinkles. The same assay detected phytoplasma DNA in all test plants and test insect vectors infected with FD, BN and AP phytoplasmas. Our groupspecific assays detected FD, BN, and AP phytoplasmas with high efficiencies, similar to those obtained with nested PCR and did not amplify phytoplasma DNA of other taxonomic groups. Melting curve analysis was necessary for the correct identification of the specific amplicons generated in the presence of very low target concentrations. Our work shows that real-time PCR methods can sensitively and rapidly detect phytoplasmas at the universal or groupspecific level. This should be useful in developing defence strategies and for quantitative studies of phytoplasma-plant-vector interactions.

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