UCARE: Undergraduate Creative Activities & Research Experiences
UCARE Research Products
Date of this Version
Spring 4-30-2020
Document Type
Poster
Citation
Poster presentation, UCARE Research Fair, Spring 2020, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Abstract
To better understand the ecology and epidemiology of the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella Keifer) as a vector of wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), it is necessary to develop a method to confine the microscopic mites and their infection to specific areas of their host plants, particularly wheat and corn. In this study, corn was the plant of interest. The device developed for this mite-confining method was made by removing the lens of a phone camera lens clip and gluing a 2.5 cm x 4.5 cm piece of wood to the other arm of the clip. Clips were utilized by placing mite-infested wheat leaves on the wooden arm of the clip, opening the clip, and gently lowering the arms onto either side of the corn leaf with the wooden base on the underside. Mite survival, confinement, and feeding were recorded to be satisfactory for use in subsequent studies examining virus transmission by the mites. Future work utilizing this device will center around Red Fluorescent Protein-Tagged WSMV spread in resistant and non-resistant corn varieties along with susceptible wheat varieties.
Comments
Copyright 2020 by the authors.