First Report of Aleurocanthus spiniferus on Ailanthus altissima: Profiling of the Insect Microbiome and MicroRNAs.

ABSTRACT: We report the first occurrence of the orange spiny whitefly (Aleurocanthus spiniferus; OSW) on the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) in Bari, Apulia region, Italy. After our first observation in 2016, the infestation recurred regularly during the following years and expanded to the neighboring trees. Since then, we have also found the insect on numerous patches of the tree of heaven and other plant species in the Bari province. Nevertheless, the tree of heaven was not particularly threatened by the insect, so that a possible contribution by OSW for the control of such an invasive plant cannot be hypothesized hitherto. This work was also aimed at profiling the microbiome of OSW feeding on A. altissima. For this purpose, we used the denaturing gradient gel electrophor

SUBMITTER: Bubici G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7142546 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature