A global invasion by the thrip, Frankliniella occidentalis: Current virus vector status and its management.

Western flower thrip, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is among the most economically important agricultural pests globally, attacking a wide range of vegetable and horticultural crops. In addition to causing extensive crop damage, the species is notorious for vectoring destructive plant viruses, mainly belonging to the genera Orthotospovirus, Ilarvirus, Alphacarmovirus and Machlomovirus. Once infected by orthotospoviruses, thrips can remain virulent throughout their lifespan and continue transmitting viruses to host plants when and wherever they feed. These irruptive viral outbreaks in crops will permanently disrupt functional integrated pest management systems, and typically require a remedial treatment involving insecticides, contributing to further development of insecticide resistance. To mitigate against this continuing cycle, the most effective management is early and comprehensive surveillance of the pest species and recognition of plant viruses in the field. This review provides information on the pest status of F. occidentalis, discusses the current global status of the viruses vectored by this thrip species, examines the mechanisms involved in transmitting virus-induced diseases by thrips, and reviews different management strategies, highlighting the potential management tactics developed for various cropping systems. The early surveillance and the utilization of potential methods for control of both F. occidentalis and viruses are proposed.

Abamectin resistance in strains of vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is linked to elevated glutathione S-transferase activity.

Abamectin resistance was selected in the vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) under laboratory conditions, and cross-resistance patterns and possible resistance mechanisms in the abamectin-resistant strains (AL-R, AF-R) were investigated. Compared with the susceptible strain (SS), strain AL-R displayed 39-fold resistance to abamectin after 20 selection cycles during 25 generations, and strain AF-R exhibited 59-fold resistance to abamectin after 16 selection cycles during 22 generations. No cross-resistance to cyromazine was found in both abamectin-resistant strains. However, we failed to select for cyromazine resistance in L. sativae under laboratory conditions by conducting 17 selection cycles during 22 generations. However, moderate levels of cross-resistance to abamectin (6-9 fold) were observed in strains which received cyromazine treatments. Biochemical analysis showed that glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in both abamectin-resistant strains (AL-R, AF-R) was significantly higher than in the susceptible strain (SS), suggesting metabolically driven resistance to abamectinin L. sativae. Recommendations of mixtures or rotation of cyromazine and abamectin should be considered carefully, as consecutive cyromazine treatments may select for low-level cross-resistance to abamectin.

Identification, expression profiling and fluorescence-based binding assays of a chemosensory protein gene from the Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis.

Using RT-PCR and RACE-PCR strategies, we cloned and identified a new chemosensory protein (FoccCSP) from the Western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis, a species for which no chemosensory protein (CSP) has yet been identified. The FoccCSP gene contains a 387 bp open-reading frame encoding a putative protein of 128 amino acids with a molecular weight of 14.51 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.41. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal peptide of 19 amino acid residues at the N-terminus, as well as the typical four-cysteine signature found in other insect CSPs. As FoccCSP is from a different order of insect than other known CSPs, the GenBank FoccCSP homolog showed only 31-50% sequence identity with them. A neighbor-joining tree was constructed and revealed that FoccCSP is in a group with CSPs from Homopteran insects (e.g., AgosCSP4, AgosCSP10, ApisCSP, and NlugCSP9), suggesting that these genes likely developed from a common ancestral gene. The FoccCSP gene expression profile of different tissues and development stages was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. The results of this analysis revealed this gene is predominantly expressed in the antennae and also highly expressed in the first instar nymph, suggesting a function for FoccCSP in olfactory reception and in particular life activities during the first instar nymph stage. We expressed recombinant FoccCSP protein in a prokaryotic expression system and purified FoccCSP protein by affinity chromatography using a Ni-NTA-Sepharose column. Using N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (1-NPN) as a fluorescent probe in fluorescence-based competitive binding assay, we determined the binding affinities of 19 volatile substances for FoccCSP protein. This analysis revealed that anisic aldehyde, geraniol and methyl salicylate have high binding affinities for FoccCSP, with KD values of 10.50, 15.35 and 35.24 µM, respectively. Thus, our study indicates that FoccCSP may play an important role in regulating the development of the first instar nymph and mediate F. occidentalis host recognition.