Abstract
Many phytopathogens that cause worldwide losses of agricultural yield
are vectored by herbivorous insects. Limited information is available
about the interactions among phytopathogens, host plants, and insect
vectors. In this paper, we report that the cell wall-lacking bacterium
Candidatus Phytoplasma mali can alter both the odor of its host plant
(apple) and behavior of its vector, the univoltine psyllid Cacopsylla
picta. Apple trees infected by this phytoplasma emitted higher amounts
of beta-caryophyllene when compared to uninfected ones. Psyllids that
had no previous contact with Ca. P. mali, as well as infected pyllids,
are more attracted by volatiles emitted from phytoplasma-infected apple
plants than from uninfected ones. Psyllids that had developed on
infected plants without getting infected showed the opposite behavior.
These results suggest that the pathogen modifies host plant odor that
lures its vector to infected plants. This may result in higher numbers
of transmitting vec
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