Papaya ringspot, caused by papaya ringspot virus, is the most important disease of the crop in Florida, severely limiting the potential for commercial production. Sometimes this virus infects cucurbits. Earliest symptoms in papaya appear as yellowing and vein-clearing of younger leaves. A prominent yellow mottling of the leaves follows. One or more lobes of infected leaves may become severely d...

Cucurbits comprise the highly diverse family known as Cucurbitaceae that includes cultivated, feral, and wild species (Robinson and Decker-Walters, 1997). Many of the cultivated species such as squash (Cucurbita ssp.), watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai], cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), and melon (Cucumis melo L.) are familiar to U.S. and world markets. Others such as bitter ...

Serological assays were used to estimate the proportion of Acalymma vittata (F.) that harbored Erwinia tracheiphila (E. F. Smith) Holland, the causal agent of bacterial wilt in cucurbits. Theseproportionswere related to theproportionofA. vittata that transmitteddisease in singlebeetle caged bioassays. The serological assays classiÞed beetles as harboring the bacteria when the titer was above '1...

Nematode-resistant tropical legumes are effective in reducing populations of plant-parasitic nematodes when used in rotation systems. Mixed cropping is a common practice of many small farmers in Central America, but little is known about the effects of tropical legumes on nematode communities under these systems. To examine the effects of intercropping on the nematode fauna associated with squa...

ABSTRACT Diagnosis of yellow vine disease (YVD) in cucurbits, an important disease in the south-central United States, relies on external symptom appearance, phloem discoloration, and the presence of bacterium-like organisms (BLOs) in phloem. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of BLO nucleotide sequences was explored as a means to improve diagnostic techniques. PCR, using a primer pa...