Acquisition and Transmission of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum VCG 0114 (Race 4) by Stink Bugs

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum VCG 0114 (race 4; i.e., FOV4) is an emerging pathogen that causes severe root rot and wilt of cotton. FOV4 is seed-borne, but the mode of seed invasion is uncertain. In an initial study, seeds in bolls that were puncture inoculated with FOV4 conidia when they were 25- or 30-days old became infected but remained viable. Because stink bugs can ingest and introduce bacterial and yeast pathogens into cotton bolls, we hypothesized that stink bugs may ingest and transmit FOV4. Southern green stink bugs and brown stink bugs were exposed to potato dextrose agar cultures of FOV4 and subsequently caged with cotton bolls to assess transmission potential. Both species fed on the cultures and acquired FOV4, and brown stink bugs transmitted FOV4 to cotton bolls. Thus, management of FOV4 may require management of stink bugs to mitigate the spread of the disease in cotton.