Aphids and their transmitted potato viruses: A continuous challenges in potato crops
Yi Xu, Stewart M. Gray
Abstract
Aphid is one of the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions. Their piercing-sucking mouthparts and phloem feeding behavior directly damage crops and deplete plant nutrients. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food sources on the planet, and several aphid species, e.g., Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (green peach aphid) and Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) (potato aphid) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) colonize potato and transmit several economically important viruses. Aphid-transmitted potato viruses have been emerging all over the world as a very serious problem in potato production, inducing a wide variety of foliar and tuber symptoms, leading to severe yield reduction and loss of tuber quality. In this review, recent advances in understanding the interactions of potato viruses with their hosts, aphid vectors and the environment are described.