{"title":"Insects as potential vectors of phytoplasmas in urban trees in a mega-city: a case study in Bogotá, Colombia","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01524-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Urban trees offer many ecosystem services which can be affected by pathogens, including phytoplasmas. Phytoplasmas cause regulator growth imbalances in infected plants, which produce deviations from the normal plant architecture, among other symptoms. In Bogotá, Colombia, ‘<em>Candidatus</em> Phytoplasma asteris’ and ‘<em>Candidatus</em> Phytoplasma fraxini’ infect at least 11 species of urban trees, including Andean oak. This tree species is endemic to Colombia and Panama, and it plays an important ecologic role in the Colombian Andes wild forests. In Bogotá, knowledge about the insect vectors associated with the transmission of phytoplasmas to Andean oak is scarce. In this work we sampled the entomofauna of Andean oaks and evaluated the role of Cicadellidae and Psylloidea taxa as potential vectors of phytoplasmas in Bogotá. Insects were captured using direct and indirect sampling methods from Andean oaks at three contrasting sites in Bogotá, and also from neighbouring trees. The insects were identified by morphological and molecular methods and tested for phytoplasmas. In total, 510 Cicadellidae members of 13 taxa and 129 Psylloidea of 8 taxa were captured; richness and abundance depended on the type and sampling site. The most abundant species were <em>Scaphytopius</em> (<em>Convelinus</em>) sp. (Cicadellidae) and <em>Acizzia uncatoides</em> (Psylloidea). Leafhoppers positive for phytoplasmas were Chiasmodolini, <em>Dikrella</em> (<em>Readionia</em>) sp., <em>Empoasca</em> sp. and <em>Scaphytopius</em> sp. taxa. Our results suggest that several potential species of phytoplasmas may be dispersing phytoplasmas to Andean oaks and other urban tree species. It is necessary to conduct transmission tests to evaluate the transmission capacity of the potential vectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Urban Ecosystems","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01524-2","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Urban trees offer many ecosystem services which can be affected by pathogens, including phytoplasmas. Phytoplasmas cause regulator growth imbalances in infected plants, which produce deviations from the normal plant architecture, among other symptoms. In Bogotá, Colombia, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma fraxini’ infect at least 11 species of urban trees, including Andean oak. This tree species is endemic to Colombia and Panama, and it plays an important ecologic role in the Colombian Andes wild forests. In Bogotá, knowledge about the insect vectors associated with the transmission of phytoplasmas to Andean oak is scarce. In this work we sampled the entomofauna of Andean oaks and evaluated the role of Cicadellidae and Psylloidea taxa as potential vectors of phytoplasmas in Bogotá. Insects were captured using direct and indirect sampling methods from Andean oaks at three contrasting sites in Bogotá, and also from neighbouring trees. The insects were identified by morphological and molecular methods and tested for phytoplasmas. In total, 510 Cicadellidae members of 13 taxa and 129 Psylloidea of 8 taxa were captured; richness and abundance depended on the type and sampling site. The most abundant species were Scaphytopius (Convelinus) sp. (Cicadellidae) and Acizzia uncatoides (Psylloidea). Leafhoppers positive for phytoplasmas were Chiasmodolini, Dikrella (Readionia) sp., Empoasca sp. and Scaphytopius sp. taxa. Our results suggest that several potential species of phytoplasmas may be dispersing phytoplasmas to Andean oaks and other urban tree species. It is necessary to conduct transmission tests to evaluate the transmission capacity of the potential vectors.
期刊介绍:
Urban Ecosystems is an international journal devoted to scientific investigations of urban environments and the relationships between socioeconomic and ecological structures and processes in urban environments. The scope of the journal is broad, including interactions between urban ecosystems and associated suburban and rural environments. Contributions may span a range of specific subject areas as they may apply to urban environments: biodiversity, biogeochemistry, conservation biology, wildlife and fisheries management, ecosystem ecology, ecosystem services, environmental chemistry, hydrology, landscape architecture, meteorology and climate, policy, population biology, social and human ecology, soil science, and urban planning.