The convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is an important predator of soft-bodied insect pests in many regions of the United States, but generally uncommon in Florida citrus. Certain citrus producers in Florida recently initiated releases of commercially available H. convergens from California against the Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citr...

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is an invasive pest that vectors citrus greening disease, which recently was detected in Florida. Mycosed adult D. citri were collected at four sites in central Florida between September 2005 and February 2006. Observation of the cadavers using scanning electron microscopy revealed that the pathogen had branched synnemata supporting monophila...

Acknowledgments. We thank Eimile Dougherty (Cedarville University); Sunhali Sharma and Issac V. Greenhut (Plant Pathology, SWFREC, UF); Peter Newman and Lisa Cushman (Citrus Physiology Laboratory, SWFREC, IFAS, UF, Immokalee, FL), for technical assistance. *Corresponding author; phone: (239) 658-3400; fax: (239) 658-3469; email: [email protected] Effect of Salicylic Acid on Oxidative Metabolism du...

Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is the vector of the bacteria that causes citrus greening and is considered one of the world's most important citrus diseases. We examined how host, geographic region, and gender affect the thermal requirements of D. citri. The insects were reared in climatic chambers at constant temperatures of 18, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30, and 32 +/- 1 degrees C, 70 ...

We present here the complete nucleotide sequence and genome organization of a novel putative RNA virus identified in field populations of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, through sequencing of the transcriptome followed by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). We tentatively named this virus Diaphorina citri-associated C virus (DcACV). DcACV is an unclassified positive-sense RNA virus.

BACKGROUND The uptake of sulphur-containing compounds plays a pivotal role in the physiology of bacteria that live in aerobic soils where organosulfur compounds such as sulphonates and sulphate esters represent more than 95% of the available sulphur. Until now, no information has been available on the uptake of sulphonates by bacterial plant pathogens, particularly those of the Xanthomonas genu...

Bacterial type III secretion systems deliver protein virulence factors to host cells. Here we characterize the interaction between HrpB2, a small protein secreted by the Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri type III secretion system, and the cytosolic domain of the inner membrane protein HrcU, a paralog of the flagellar protein FlhB. We show that a recombinant fragment corresponding to the C-terminal...

BACKGROUND Diaphorina citri populations in Florida are developing resistance to commonly used neurotoxic insecticides. Alternatives to neurotoxins, such as insect growth regulators, are needed to control this season-long subtropical pest to prevent or delay development of insecticide resistance. In the present investigation, two insect growth regulators (IGRs), buprofezin and diflubenzuron, wer...