confirming the documented graminous host range for sugarcane aphid
TRANSCRIPT
Confirming the Documented Graminous Host Range for Sugarcane Aphid
Gregory Bryan WilsonDr. David L. Kerns
Louisiana State UniversitySorghum – Sugarcane Aphid Research Exchange Meeting
New Orleans, LAJanuary 7 – 8, 2016
Objective
Identify, verify, and expand upon documented graminous hosts for Melanaphis sacchari Zehntner.
Materials & MethodsLiterature review • Identified 13 plant genera, 17 species
Container study• No-choice for 35 grass species• Growth chamber (13:11, 27º C,
70% RH)• 6 containers with 4-5 plants ea. • Infested with approx. 200 aphid
isolates• 3-5 leaf stage• Counts at 2 DAI, 7 DAI, and 14
DAI
Results for 18 spp.
Persistent populations of 30-150 aphids per plant:
• Pearl millet - Pennisetum glaucum L. • Sorghum - Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench• Johnson grass - Sorghum halepense (L.)
Pers. • Broom corn - Sorghum arundinaceum
(Desv.) Stapf • Sudangrass - Sorghum drummondii
(Steud.) Millsp. & Chase –
Results for 18 spp.
Non-persistent populations of 5-30 aphids per plant:
• Large crabgrass - Digitaria sanguinalis - • Jungle rice - Echinochloa column L.• Barnyardgrass - Echinochloa crus-galli
(L.) P. Beauv. • Japanese millet - Echinochloa esculenta
(A. Braun) H. Scholz• Napiergrass - Pennisetum purpureum
Shumach.• Sugarcane - Saccharum officinarum L. • Corn - Zea mays L.
Results for 18 spp.
SCA failed to feed on:
• Oats - Avena sativa L.• Rye - Secale cereale L. • Wheat - Triticum aestivum L. • Rough barnyardgrass - Echinochloa
muricata (Beauv.) Fern.• Annual ryegrass - Lolium multiflorum L.• Switchgrass - Panicum virgatum L.
DiscussionLiterature• Other than on Sorghum and Sugarcane,
most lit. was observational not scientific• Unclear nomenclature and pest / host
identification
Grass Hosts• Poaceae PACMAD (C4) clade vs. BOP (C3)
clade• Not all documented grasses match results
of no-choice tests• SCA impacting cool season crops is
unlikely.
