New data on quarantine pests and pests of the EPPO Alert List
By searching through the literature, the EPPO Secretariat has extracted the following new data concerning quarantine pests and pests included (or formerly included) on the EPPO Alert List, and indicated in bold the situation of the pest concerned using the terms of ISPM 8.
- New records
In Australia, lettuce chlorosis virus (Crinivirus, LCV – formerly EPPO Alert List) was first detected during a survey of the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) of Cape York region, Queensland in 2021 in a sample of Calopogonium mucunoides (Filardo et al., 2023). Present: not widely distributed.
In Pakistan, cowpea mild mottle virus (Carlavirus, CPMMV – EU Annexes) was detected in 2018 in a soybean (Glycine max) field at Faisalabad, Pakistan (Rahman et al., 2023). Present: not widely distributed.
- Detailed records
Impatiens necrotic spot virus (Tospovirus – EPPO A2 List) is reported from the first time from Arizona (US). INSV was reported in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) in March 2021 (Hasegawa et al., 2022).
- Eradication
In Italy, the outbreak of the fungus Geosmithia morbida (EPPO A2 List) found in 2016 in the municipality of Robecco sul Naviglio (region of Lombardia) (EPPO RS 2019/102) is considered eradicated. In 2016, 1 Juglans nigra tree was found to be infected and felled. In 2019, another J. nigra was found to be infected in the same area. The infected plant and two adjacent walnut trees were felled. Surveillance in 2020-2022 did not detect the pest. In Lombardia, 352 and 413 plants of Juglans sp. were checked in 2021 and 2022, respectively and no infected plants were found. In addition, no infected plants have been found in nurseries and no reports of suspicious or symptomatic plants have been made by professional operators or citizens.
The situation of Geosmithia morbida in Italy is officially declared as: Present, only in some parts of the Member State concerned (NPPO of Italy, 2023-04).
In Japan, although Acidovorax citrulli (EPPO A1 List) had been detected on a few occasions from 1998 to 2012 on Citrullus lanatus and Cucumis melo in several production sites (located in Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyūshū and Shikoku), eradication measures have always been immediately taken (including destruction of affected plants). Annual official surveys carried out on approximately 600 production sites have confirmed that the bacterium has been absent from Japan since 2013.
The pest status of Acidovorax citrulli in Japan is officially declared as: Absent, pest eradicated.
- Diagnostics
An on-site loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) test has been developed in the Netherlands to identify larvae of Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae – EPPO A2 List) and Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae – EPPO A2 List). This may be used by inspectors during import inspections (Griekspoor et al., 2023).
- Host plants
In Brazil, the nematode Aphelenchoides besseyi (EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time causing leaf spot on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) under field conditions. During field inspections in May 2021 and June 2022, A. besseyi was found in two areas located within the municipality of Rio Largo, state of Alagoas, North-Eastern Brazil. Its identity was confirmed by morphological, morphometric and molecular tests (Noronha et al., 2023).
In India, the nematode Meloidogyne graminicola (EPPO Alert List) is reported for the first time infecting a wild species of jute, Corchorus aestuans. M. graminicola was found in plants growing in the municipality of Nalhati (West Bengal). Its identity was confirmed by morphological, morphometric and molecular tests (Rahaman Kahn et al., 2023).
- Epidemiology
Experiments on Ralstonia syzygii subsp. celebesensis (EPPO A1 List) causing banana blood disease confirms that this bacterium is highly transmissible via tools from an infected plant to a healthy one. The bacterium can also be transferred from a mother plant to the suckers. Unlike to other Ralstonia species, plant-to-plant transmission through water appears not to be a major pathway for spread (Ray et al., 2022).
- New pests and taxonomy
In the USA, laurel wilt is a serious disease of redbay (Persea borbonia) and some other tree species which is caused by Raffaelea lauricola, a fungus which serves as a food source for the redbay ambrosia beetle, Xyleborus glabratus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae – EPPO Alert List). Recent taxonomic studies within the order Ophiostomatales have concluded that this fungus should be moved to a new genus and called Harringtonia lauricola (de Beer et al., 2022).
Sources
De Beer ZW, Parocter M, Wingfield MJ, Marincowitz S, Duong TA (2022) Generic boundaries in the Ophiostomatales reconsidered and revised. Studies in Mycology 101, 57–120. https://doi.org/10.3114/sim.2022.101.02
Filardo F, Waterhouse B, Jones L, Campbell P (2023) Yambean mosaic virus and lettuce chlorosis virus in Australia. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 18, 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-023-00495-1
Griekspoor Y, Kurm V, Jakomin T, Bonants P, Schoen C (2023) Development of an on-site LAMP assay for identification of Thaumatotibia leucotreta and Helicoverpa armigera larvae on rose. European Journal of Plant Pathology 165(3), 593-601.
Hasegawa DK, Hladky LJ, Wintermantel WM, Putman AI, Barman A, Slinski S, Palumbo J, Poudel-Ward B (2022) First report of impatiens necrotic spot virus infecting lettuce in Arizona and southern desert regions of California. Plant Disease 106(8), 2274. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-21-2118-PDN
NPPO of Italy (2023-04).
NPPO of Japan (2023-04).
Noronha MD, Assunção MC, Muniz MD, Machado AC (2023) Aphelenchoides besseyi causing leaf spot on cowpea under field conditions in Brazil. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 18, 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-023-00496-0.
Rahaman Khan M, Mondal S, Singh A, Pal S (2023) First report of rice root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne graminicola) infecting wild jute (Corchorus aestuans). Australasian Plant Disease Notes 18, 12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-023-00497-z
Rahman SU, Domier LL, Raza G, Ahmed N, McCoppin NK, Amin I, Mansoor S (2023) Metagenomic study for the identification of viruses infecting soybean in Pakistan. Australasian Plant Pathology (early view). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-023-00909-9
Ray JD, Subandiyah S, Prakoso AB, Rincón-Flórez VA, Carvalhais LC, Drenth A (2022) Transmission of blood disease in banana. Plant Disease 106(8), 2155-2164. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-21-2373-RE