Wheat Curl Mite Resistance: Interactions of Mite Feeding With Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Infection

Abstract

The majority of plant viruses are dependent on arthropod vectors for spread between plants. Wheat streak mosaic virus (family Potyviridae, genus Tritimovirus, WSMV) is transmitted by the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella Keifer, and this virus and vector cause extensive yield losses in most major wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-growing regions of the world. Many cultivars in use are susceptible to this vector-virus complex, and yield losses of 10-99% have been documented. wheat curl mite resistance genes have been identified in goat grass, Aegilops tauschii (Coss) Schmal., and transferred to hexaploid wheat, but very few varieties contain effectively wheat curl mite resistance, due to virulent wheat curl mite populations. However, wheat curl mite resistance remains an effective strategy to reduce losses due to WSMV. The goal of our project was to identify the most effective, reproducible, and rapid method for assessing wheat curl mite resistance. We also wanted to determine whether mite resistance is affected by WSMV infection, because the pathogen and pest commonly occur together. Single and group wheat curl mite infestations produced similar amounts of leaf rolling and folding on wheat curl mite-susceptible wheat varieties that were independent of initial wheat curl mite infestation. This finding will allow accurate, efficient, large-scale screening of wheat germplasm for wheat curl mite resistance by infesting plants with sections of wheat leaf tissue containing mixed stages of wheat curl mite. The wheat curl mite-resistant breeding line 'OK05312' displayed antibiosis (reduced wheat curl mite population development). The effect of WSMV infection on wheat curl mite reproduction was genotype-dependent. Mite populations increased on infected wheat curl mite- and WSMV-susceptible plants compared with uninfected plants, but WSMV infection had no significant effect on wheat curl mite populations on resistant plants. OK05312 is a strong source of wheat curl mite resistance for wheat breeding programs.

The Effect of Temperature, Relative Humidity, and Virus Infection Status on off-host Survival of the Wheat Curl Mite (Acari: Eriophyidae)

“…Siriwetwiwat (2006) observed increased wheat curl mite densities on WSMV-infected wheat plants compared with noninfected plants. Murugan et al (2011) also observed significant wheat curl mite population increase on WSMV-infected susceptible cultivars compared with noninfected plants, but this increase was not observed for WSMV-resistant cultivars. However, TriMV-infected wheat plants had a 20-25% reduction in the number of plants with successful population establishment from single mite transfers compared with noninfected plants (McMechan et al 2014).…”

“…WSMVinfected wheat has been shown to enhance the reproductive capability of wheat curl mite (Siriwetwiwat 2006, Murugan et al 2011). In the current study, WSMV infection did not affect off-host survival.…”

Resistance to Wheat Curl Mite in Arthropod-Resistant Rye-Wheat Translocation Lines

“…Plants in Experiment I were grown in pots containing Sungrow Metro-Mix 350 (Sun Gro Horticulture, Agawan, MA, USA) and plants in Experiments II and III were grown in pots containing Pro-Mix 'BX' (Premier ProMix, Lansing, MI, USA). All plants were fertilized once with 20-20-20 (N-P-K) and grown at 22 ± 2 • C, 40-50% relative humidity, and a photoperiod of 14:10 (light:dark) hours, which are optimum conditions for plant and mite growth and development [12,36,37]. Experiments I and III were conducted in a greenhouse and Experiment II was conducted in a growth chamber.…”

Remote Monitoring of Wheat Streak Mosaic Progression Using Sub-Pixel Classification of Landsat 5 TM Imagery for Site Specific Disease Management in Winter Wheat

“…Wheat streak mosaic (WSM), caused by Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a viral disease that affects wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), millet (Panicum setaria), and numerous other grasses over large geographical areas around the world [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. This virus is vectored by the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella Keifer) [2] that has several grass species hosts besides wheat [2,9].…”

“…Recent studies indicated that infected wheat has less root and shoot biomass than uninfected plant, resulting in severe decrease in water-use efficiency [10,12,13]. WSM has been estimated to decrease annual wheat yields by approximately 5% per year, but local disease epidemics can be highly destructive and result in total crop loss [1][2][3]6,7,16,19].…”