Abstract:
The
Banana streak virus
(
BSV
) is a causative agent of the banana streak disease (BSD) which causes
considerable damage to banana production in tropical countries. The virus
is vectored by
several mealy
bug species. However, the competence of the oleander mealy bug (
Paracoccus burnerae
)
,
in the
transmission of
BSV
is unknown. Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA) technique was used to select both
diseased and healthy plantlets fo
r transmission experiments. RCA was conducted on viruliferous instars
of
P
.
burnerae
and virus
-
inoculated plantlet DNA samples. The results revealed that
P
.
burnerae
is a
vector of
BSV
. However, during hot conditions (24
-
30ºC), the insect was unable to acq
uire and transmit
BSV
. Under cool conditions (9
-
20ºC), a minimum of 6 h of feeding time was necessary for
P
.
burnerae
instars to become viruliferous. These results indicate that
P
.
burnerae
is a vector of
BSV
and
transmission efficiency depends on the ambi
ent temperature and the feeding time.
