Publications

Phytoplasma effector SAP54 induces indeterminate leaf-like flower development in Arabidopsis plants.	Phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted bacterial plant pathogens that cause considerable damage to a diverse range of agricultural crops globally. Symptoms induced in infected plants suggest that these phytopathogens may modulate developmental processes within the plant host. We report herein that Aster Yellows phytoplasma strain Witches' Broom (AY-WB) readily infects the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ecotype Columbia, inducing symptoms that are characteristic of phytoplasma infect ...	2011	21849514
phytoplasma protein effector sap11 enhances insect vector reproduction by manipulating plant development and defense hormone biosynthesis.	phytoplasmas are insect-transmitted phytopathogenic bacteria that can alter plant morphology and the longevity and reproduction rates and behavior of their insect vectors. there are various examples of animal and plant parasites that alter the host phenotype to attract insect vectors, but it is unclear how these parasites accomplish this. we hypothesized that phytoplasmas produce effectors that modulate specific targets in their hosts leading to the changes in plant development and insect perfor ...	2011	22065743
detection and variability of aster yellows phytoplasma titer in its insect vector, macrosteles quadrilineatus (hemiptera: cicadellidae).	the aster yellows phytoplasma (ayp) is transmitted by the aster leafhopper, macrosteles quadrilineatus forbes, in a persistent and propagative manner. to study ayp replication and examine the variability of ayp titer in individual aster leafhoppers, we developed a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay to measure ayp concentration in insect dna extracts. absolute quantification of ayp dna was achieved by comparing the amplification of unknown amounts of an ayp target gene sequenc ...	2011	22299339
factors influencing aster leafhopper (hemiptera: cicadellidae) abundance and aster yellows phytoplasma infectivity in wisconsin carrot fields.	in wisconsin, vegetable crops are threatened annually by infection of the aster yellows phytoplasma (ayp), the causal agent of aster yellows (ay) disease, vectored by the aster leafhopper, macrosteles quadrilineatus forbes. aster leafhopper abundance and infectivity are influenced by processes operating across different temporal and spatial scales. we applied a multilevel modeling approach to partition variance in multifield, multiyear, pest scouting data sets containing temporal and spatial cov ...	2013	23726057
seasonal patterns of aster leafhopper (hemiptera: cicadellidae) abundance and aster yellows phytoplasma infectivity in wisconsin carrot fields.	in wisconsin, vegetable crops are threatened annually by the aster yellows phytoplasma (ayp), which is obligately transmitted by the aster leafhopper. using a multiyear, multilocation data set, seasonal patterns of leafhopper abundance and infectivity were modeled. a seasonal aster yellows index (ayi) was deduced from the model abundance and infectivity predictions to represent the expected seasonal risk of pathogen transmission by infectious aster leafhoppers. the primary goal of this study was ...	2013	23726058