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University, Diss., 2004--Kiel.

Alfalfa is one of the most valuable of our forage crops. A dependable source of seed is therefore a primary essential to the success of our present system of agriculture. More than 70 million pounds of alfalfa seed are required each year in the United States to maintain the present hay and pasture acreage of this crop; and the annual demand for seed would increase to more than 100 million pounds if the acreage were expanded to the extent recommended for soil conservation and a balanced agricultural security.

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is an important crop in Mississippi. Economic losses are incurred every year due to the feeding and treatment of crop pests and plant pathogens. Because it is often unclear what differentiates a pest from a pathogen, I will use the umbrella term “biotic stressor” or BST when referring to a plant pest or pathogen. BSTs employ a special set of proteins known as ‘effectors’ that function at the site of BST physical attack. Effectors dictate how the host-BST relationship will unfold. Effectors include the proteins produced by the BST that are recognized by the plant and invoke the subsequent plant immune responses to the BST. Moreover, some effectors are responsible for the successful modification of the host tissues for the survival of the pest. In this study I utilized Illumina sequencing and computational biology approaches to identify effectors within three evolutionarily diverse cotton BSTs; specifically, Lygus lineolaris (tarnished plant bug), Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm) (bacterial cotton blight), and Rotylenchulus reniformis (reniform nematode). Transcripts from the Lygus lineolaris salivary gland were found to encode putative degradative proteins used for the extra-oral digestion of host tissues by the insect. Production, assembly, and comparison of a whole genome assembly of the first Xcm genome obtained from a strain isolated in the cotton producing region of the United States revealed that the cotton Xcm is similar to other reported Xcm assemblies and contains most of the proteins found in these other strains. Genome and life-stage specific transcriptome sequencing of the nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis resulted in the identification of 41,570 transcripts of which 3,033 were up-regulated in the parasitic sedentary female life-stage. These studies collectively provide insight into the mechanisms by which key cotton BSTs invade and damage cotton. Further study of the BST effectors and the plant biomolecules with which they interact should facilitate development of highly targeted mechanisms of minimizing/eliminating BST damage. Such customized BST management will increase profits for farmers and maximize resource utilization in an environmentally responsible manner.

No description available.

Various biological relationships between the myramid egg parasite, Anaphes ovijentatus (Crosby and Leonard), and its hosts were studied. Eggs of the four major species of Lygus that occur on crops were highly parasitized. Other mirid hosts in southern Arizona were collected from weeds in agricultural areas. Small numbers of Nabis alternatus Parshley and N. americoferus Carayon, predators of several insect pests, were parasitized in the laboratory. The membracid Spissistilus festinus (Say) was an infrequent host. Parasitism of L. hesperus was similar (82-88%) for eggs 1-6 days old at 25°C, but parasitism of 7-day-old eggs was significantly reduced (18.9%). Parasitism must occur at least 24 hours prior to host egg hatch to be successful; the period of time required for A. ovijentatus egg development. Anaphes ovijentatus developed from egg to adult in L. hesperus eggs at a constant temperature of 12.8°C and at variable regimes with means of 12.8, 10.6, and 32.8°C. An average of 26 progeny per female were produced at the variable 12.8 and 10.6°C regimes, only a few progeny were produced at a constant 12.8°C and none were produced at the variable 32.8°C regime. Lygus hesperus eggs hatched at all four temperature regimes, but nymphs survived to adulthood only at the variable regimes of 12.8 and 10.6°C. Total egg to egg periods at the variable 12.8°C was approximately 103 days for L. hesperus and about 54 days for A. ovijentatus. The majority of the L. hesperus eggs were deposited in the upper halves of cotton, alfalfa, and the crucifer Sisymbrium irio L. plants. L. hesperus deposited more eggs in alfalfa than in cotton plants, but showed no preference between alfalfa and S. irio. Anaphes ovijentatus did not demonstrate clear preferences for L. hesperus eggs in any plant species or plant section.

Lygus bug (Lygus Hahn) and predator (Chrysopa carnea Stephens, Geocoris, and Nabis) abundance and spatial distribution in production-managed, drop and furrow-irrigated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in central Arizona were compared during the early seasons of 1980-1983. Sweep net and drop cloth samples revealed lygus bug populations were established and reached pest status in drip-irrigated cotton 2-3 weeks prior to those in furrow. Several factors combined to make drip cotton more favorable than furrow for Lygus: more dense plant populations, taller plants, lower vapor pressure deficits within the plant canopy, and earlier availability of squares. Within furrow-irrigated cotton, lygus bugs and the percent Lygus-damaged squares were greater in areas of tall, dense plantings, primarily in areas distant from the water source. In drip, damage was significantly greater than in furrow, and comparable in all field ares. Predator populations were not consistently greater under either irrigation system. Under furrow, Geocoris and Nabis populations were greatest in areas of Lygus abundance. Morisita's index and Taylor's power law indicated a higher degree of aggregation in the spatial patterns of Lygus and predator populations in furrow-irrigated cotton than in drip. The two indices agreed in magnitude and trend across the insects studied, but Morisita's index was more frequently significant for contagion. Sweep net samples revealed a higher degree of aggregation than drop cloth. Taylor's coefficients were used to determine optimum sweep net and drop cloth sample sizes to evaluate Lygus populations for pest management. The sweep net requires a greater sample size than the drop cloth to ensure a given level of precision, and more samples are required in furrow-irrigated cotton than in drip. Based on percent damage and the relative variability of damage estimates, the number of squares examined for lygus bug damage should be comparable in all drip field areas, but twice as many should be examined in the furrow head-water as in the middle and tailwater. Extrafloral nectar volumes are greatest in leaves of the middle and top plant regions, and in the blossom and young boll stages of fruiting bodies. Irrigation timing and method affect nectar production. The effects of extrafloral nectar production phenology on insect distribution are discussed.

Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), L. elisus (Van Duzee), L. borealis (Knight) and Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze) were the major species of plant bugs present in commercial field bean and soybean fields in 2008–2010. Lygus lineolaris comprised 78–95% of the mirid adults and <10% were A. lineolatus. Lygus lineolaris reproduced in field beans and completed a single generation. In field beans, adults entered the crop in late July, corresponding to growth stages from late vegetative to pod initiation, and females laid eggs in the crop. Nymphs hatched and developed and were most numerous at the seed development and seed filling stage. At seed maturity, late instar nymphs and adults were present. In soybeans, L. lineolaris reproduced but nymphs had poorer survival than in field beans. Late in the season, adult numbers greatly increased in field beans and soybeans, partly due to immigration of adult Lygus bugs from early‐maturing crops. Field beans and soybeans appeared to be a transient host for A. lineolatus. There were no effects on yield quality or quantity associated with the numbers of plant bugs seen in field surveys. In laboratory and field cages, the type of injury from L. lineolaris feeding differed among plant growth stages but not between nymphs and adults, although nymphs generally were more injurious. At flowering to pod initiation, abortion of buds, flowers or pods was the most common response to feeding injury; pod abortion did not occur when injury occurred at later growth stages. Sometimes abortions resulted in reduced yield quantity, but sometimes plants compensated for the injury. No loss of seed quality occurred from feeding at this stage. During seed development and filling, feeding injury most frequently affected the vascular supply to filling seeds, resulting in shriveled seeds and pods at harvest, and consequent reduced total harvested seed weight. At seed maturity, direct seed injury, involving penetration of the testa and loss of cotyledon tissue, was the most frequent injury and resulted in pits in the seed coat at harvest. There was no loss in yield quantity when feeding occurred at seed maturity, but seed pitting reduced yield quality. / May 2016

No description available.

No description available.