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Ecology and Epidemiology

Maize Streak Virus: Effect of Temperature on Vector and Virus. Vernon D. Damsteegt, Research plant pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Disease Research Laboratory, Frederick, MD 21701; Phytopathology 74:1317-1319. Accepted for publication 7 June 1984. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1984. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-74-1317.

The role of temperature in the biology of the leafhopper, Cicadulina mbila, and on the transmission and storage of maize streak virus, was investigated. Constant temperatures between 10 and 25 C and diurnally alternating temperatures from 0 to 27 C were used to study oviposition rates, nymphal development, mortality, and virus incubation. Optimal temperatures were either a constant 25 C or alternating 27 C day/21 C night. No oviposition occurred at <10 C. Insect mortality and adult longevity increased as the mean temperature decreased from 25 to 10 C. The time from inoculation with maize streak virus to symptom development in maize was inversely related to increase in temperature. Transmission occurred in all alternating temperature regimes although maize seedlings did not show symptoms when maintained at <10 C because of poor plant growth. Partially purified preparations suspended in 0.01 M phosphate buffer were not infective after storage for 30 days at 4 C or after 370 days at - 20 C. Cryogenic temperatures between - 125 and - 180 C provided excellent short- and long-term storage of MSV in infected leaves or in a partially purified preparation. No loss in infectivity was detected after 2,410 days of cryogenic storage.