Poster: Epidemiology: Pathogen Dispersal
632-P
The occurrence pattern of plant viruses and their vectors in pepper fields in Korea
S. KWON (1), S. Kwon (1), I. Cho (1), S. Choi (1), J. Yoon (1), G. Choi (1) (1) National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, South Korea
Pepper viruses usually cause severe symptoms on pepper resulting in a significant loss of the yield. While many viruses have been reported to infect pepper, some of them, including Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Broad bean wilt virus 2 (BBWV2), Pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), Pepper mild mottle virus, Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), Beet western yellows virus (BWYV), and Potato virus Y, have already caused epidemics in pepper in Korea. In this study, we performed nationwide surveys from May to October 2015 to examine the occurrence of pepper viruses. Interestingly, the incidence of TSWV was highest in May but decreased dramatically month by month, whereas the occurrence of BWYV and PepMoV was detected from July and increased gradually until October. In addition, CMV and BBWV2 are the most prevalent in July and August and their incidences were maintained at high levels until October. In our surveys, we also investigated the incidences of thrips and aphids. Interestingly, the rate of population of thrips was greatest in May but decreased dramatically from July. On the other hand, the population of aphids gradually increased from May to August and the rate of alate aphids in the population was increased in September in pepper fields. Taken together, our survey results on the occurrence of viruses and their insect vectors suggested that the incidence of the pepper viruses is highly correlated with the population dynamic and life-cycle of their insect vectors.