Abstract

VELAZQUEZ, P.D. et al. Pyrophagus tigrinus Remes Lenicov & Varela (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), a new vector of the Mal de Río Cuarto virus (MRCV, Fijivirus) under experimental conditions. Agriscientia [online]. 2006, vol.23, n.1, pp.9-14. ISSN 1668-298X.

Mal de Río Cuarto virus (MRCV), causal agent of the most important disease that affects maize in Argentina, is spread under natural conditions by Delphacodes kuscheli. The presence of other delphacid species in areas infected with this virus suggests that those species could have a function in the epidemiology of disease. Pyrophagus tigrinus was first found by chance in 1997 in Jesús María (Córdoba) in triticale crops affected by MRCV. The aim of this work was to demonstrate the capacity of P. tigrinus to transmit the MRCV to triticale under experimental conditions. The culture of P. tigrinus under controlled conditions was initiated and transmissions to triticale using this cereal as source of inoculum were carried out. The symptoms observed and the electrophoretic pattern of viral dsRNA were corresponded with the MRCV using D. kuscheli as vector. Aggregates of MRCV-like particles in phloem tissue cells were also observed. The vector capacity of P. tigrinus has very important implications in the epidemiology of this disease.

Keywords : Mal de Río Cuarto virus; Fijivirus; Pyrophagus tigrinus; Experimental transmission.

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