
Alana JacobsonAuburn University | AU · Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Alana Jacobson
PhD in Entomology
About
91
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Introduction
Alana Jacobson currently works at the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University.
Additional affiliations
August 2014 - December 2016
Education
August 2008 - August 2012
August 2005 - May 2008
August 1999 - May 2004
Publications
Publications (91)
In 2017, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) was first reported in the United States. One CLRDV inoculum source includes the previous year's cotton stalks; hence, destroying cotton stalks could be effective for CLRDV management. However, tillage‐intensive stalk destruction methods (SDMs) can degrade southeastern soils, but a...
Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) can injure seedling cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), and peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crops in the southern United States. The planting window and timing of thrips infestations into these crops overlap in the region, but thrips preference for oviposition has not been investigated. We...
Stink bug species emerged as major insect pests of cotton in the mid-southern United States following the eradication of the boll weevil and the introduction of genetically modified Bt cotton for lepidopteran pests. Considering the limited number of chemical classes available for insect control, further insights into other chemistries are necessary...
Biotic stress can increase or reduce a plant's susceptibility to specific pathogens. A wide range of plant pathogens, i.e., viruses, bacteria, and fungi causing diseases, modulate different elements of plant defense mechanisms responses that influence disease and the physiological state of host plants. Nevertheless, plant hosts are not static and d...
Most plants produce large amounts of seeds to disperse their progeny in the environment. Plant viruses have evolved to avoid plant resistance mechanisms and use seeds for their dispersal. The presence of plant pathogenic viruses in seeds and suppression of plant host defenses is a major worldwide concern for producers and seed companies because und...
Upon acquisition of persistent circulative viruses such as poleroviruses, the virus particles transcytose through membrane barriers of aphids at the midgut and salivary glands via hemolymph. Such intricate interactions can influence aphid behavior and fitness and induce associated gene expression in viruliferous aphids. Differential gene expression...
Following the emergence of Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as a new pest of sorghum in the United States, research was conducted to identify tools and techniques successful at reducing populations and preventing economic losses in grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy...
Simple Summary
This research investigated the reproductive characteristics of two egg parasitoids, Paratelenomus saccharalis and Ooencyrtus nezarae, which target Megacoptera cribraria eggs. We evaluated the impact of different food sources, host egg-to-adult parasitoid ratios, and host exposure times on the number and sex ratio of the parasitoid of...
Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is an emerging aphid-borne pathogen infecting cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., in the southern United States (U.S.). The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, infests cotton annually and is the only known vector to transmit CLRDV to cotton. Seven other species have been reported to feed on, but not often infest, cot...
Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is an introduced Polerovirus (Family: Solemoviridae) of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., in the U.S. The only vector known to transmit this virus to cotton is the cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover; however, there are seven other species of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) reported to colonize cotton in the southeast...
Background
The tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca Hinds; family Thripidae; order Thysanoptera) is an important pest that can transmit viruses such as the tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus to numerous economically important agricultural row crops and vegetables. The structural and functional genomics within the order Thysanoptera has only begun t...
Cassava mosaic disease is caused by a complex of whitefly-transmitted begomoviruses, which often occur in co-infections. These viruses have bipartite genomes consisting of DNA-A and DNA-B that are encapsidated into separate virions. Individual viruses exist in plants and whitefly vectors as populations comprising both genome segments, which can occ...
Cassava is a root crop important for global food security and the third biggest source of calories on the African continent. Cassava production is threatened by Cassava mosaic disease (CMD), which is caused by a complex of single-stranded DNA viruses (family: Geminiviridae, genus: Begomovirus) that are transmitted by the sweet potato whitefly (Bemi...
Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is a yield-limiting, aphid-transmitted virus that was identified in cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., in the United States of America in 2017. CLRDV is currently classified in the genus Polerovirus, family Solemoviridae. Although 8 species of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are reported to infest cotton, Aphis gossypi...
Cassava mosaic disease is caused by a complex of whitefly-transmitted begomovirus species, which often occur in mixed infections. These viruses have bipartite genomes consisting of DNA-A and DNA-B that are encapsidated into separate virions. Individual virus species exist in plants and whitefly vectors as populations comprising both genome segments...
The present study investigated egg parasitoid interspecific interactions between a generalist, Ooencyrtus nezarae Ishii (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and a specialist, Paratelenomus saccharalis Dodd (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) in a laboratory setting using kudzu bug (Megacopta cribraria Fabricius, (Hemiptera: Plataspidae)) eggs as their shared host....
BACKGROUND
Widespread reports of reduced efficacy of imidacloprid for managing cotton aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover) in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) prompted an investigation to characterize the susceptibility of 43 populations over a 2‐year period. The susceptibility of A. gossypii populations to imidacloprid was examined by calculating LC50 val...
This study investigated the role of vector acquisition and transmission on the propagation of single and co-infections of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV,) and tomato mottle virus (ToMoV) (Family: Geminiviridae, Genus: Begomovirus) by the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 (Gennadius) in tomato. The aim of this research was to determine if t...
Studies on the management of the invasive Melanaphis sorghi are essential to refining integrated pest management strategies against M. sorghi in forage sorghum in the USA. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of planting date (early planting and late planting) and in-furrow and foliar insecticide application of flupyradifurone, o...
Melanaphis sorghi is a key pest of sorghum production across the southern USA, where it causes serious damage that can lead to 100% grain yield loss in severe situations. Studies aiming to refine IPM strategies are crucial to improve management of this invasive pest. Here, the authors investigated the impact of planting date and insecticide applica...
The identification of alternate hosts that can act as virus inoculum sources and vector reservoirs in the landscape is critical to understanding virus epidemics. Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is a serious pathogen in cotton production and is transmitted by the cotton/melon aphid, Aphis gossypii, in a persistent, circulative, and non-propagati...
The invasive Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald; =Melanaphis sacchari Zehntner) is a serious pest of sorghum production in the southern USA. Demonstration of technologies that provide effective control is key to management of this pest. Here, we investigated the effect of host plant resistance (resistant cultivar: DKS37-07 and susceptible cultivar: DKS53-...
This study investigated the role of vector acquisition and transmission on the propagation of single and co-infections of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV,) and tomato mottle virus (ToMoV) (Family: Geminiviridae, Genus: Begomovirus) by the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci MEAM1 (Gennadius) in tomato. The aim of this research was to determine if h...
The sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.]) agroecosystem of North America provided an opportunity to evaluate agroecosystem response to an invading insect herbivore, Melanaphis sorghi (Theobald) (sorghum aphid) (previously published as Melanaphis sacchari Zehntner) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) onto a widely planted crop that experiences a range of agro-landscape...
This is the first study to research management strategies for cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) in the southeastern U.S. The efficacy of aphid vector management to reduce final CLRDV incidence was investigated concurrent with efforts to monitor aphid population dynamics and timing of CLRDV spread. Adjusting the planting date and insecticide appli...
A new variant of cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) (genus: Polerovirus, family: Solemoviridae) was discovered in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fields that were reported to be infested with aphids and whiteflies in southern Alabama in 2017. Prior to the confirmation of CLRDV, speculation focused on whiteflies as a potential vector of the then-unk...
The identification of alternate hosts that can act as a reservoir of virus in a region is important to understand the virus epidemics. Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is transmitted by the cotton/melon aphid, Aphis gossypii (Glover) (Hemiptera; Aphididae) in a persistent, circulative, and non-propagative manner. CLRDV is a positive-sense single...
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) represents a serious threat to cassava, a major root crop for more than 300 million Africans. CMD is caused by single-stranded DNA begomoviruses that evolve rapidly, making it challenging to develop durable disease resistance. In addition to the evolutionary forces of mutation, recombination and reassortment, factors su...
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) represents a serious threat to cassava, a major root crop for more than 300 million Africans. CMD is caused by single-stranded DNA begomoviruses that evolve rapidly, making it challenging to develop durable disease resistance. In addition to the evolutionary forces of mutation, recombination, and reassortment, factors s...
The sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), emerged as a severe pest of sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.), in Texas and Louisiana in 2013 and currently threatens nearly all sorghum production in the United States. Proper management of populations is critical as sugarcane aphid has a high reproductive potential and can rapidly damage plants, re...
A new virus in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) required the need to graft plants to evaluate resistance. In searching the literature, several studies reported grafting, however the details surrounding the types of grafts, age, and acclimation environment are not described in detail. A graft is the union of rootstock and scion requiring good cambial...
During the 2019 growing season, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants in North Carolina were observed to have virus-like symptoms including leaf rugosity, leaf curling, and shortened upper internodes, consistent with Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Disease (CLRDD) associated with cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV, family: Luteoviridae, genus: Polerovirus) (...
Plant viruses rely on insect vectors for transmission among plant hosts, but many of the specifics of virus-vector interactions are not fully understood. Thrips tabaci, which transmits Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in a persistent and propagative manner, varies greatly in its ability to transmit different isolates of TSWV. Similarly, TSWV isolat...
Introductions of greenbug [Schizaphis graminum (Rondani)], Russian wheat aphid [Diuraphis noxia, (Mordvilko)], and sugarcane aphid [Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner)] into the U.S. has disrupted the production of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], wheat (Triticum spp. L.) and other small grain crops and has caused grea...
Sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehtner), recently emerged as a severe economic pest of sorghum in the USA. This insect was first discovered in the USA feeding on grain sorghum in Texas in 2013 and then rapidly spread across 19 additional states. In order to develop management practices to prevent yield loss, the objective of this study was t...
The gut microbial community structure of adult Thrips tabaci collected from 10 different agro-climatically diverse locations of India was characterized by using the Illumina MiSeq platform to amplify the V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria present in the sampled insects. Analyses were performed to study the bacterial communities associated w...
The gut microbial community structure of adult Thrips tabaci collected from 10 different agro-climatically diverse locations of India was characterized by using the Illumina MiSeq platform to amplify the V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria present in the sampled insects. Analyses were performed to study the bacterial communities associated w...
The invasive sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner), is a devastating new pest of grain sorghum. Studies were conducted utilizing an integrated approach of four management tactics: planting date, insecticidal seed treatment, a foliar-applied insecticide, and plant resistance. Experiments were conducted in 2016 and 2017 at Griffin, Tifton,...
Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) and tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Hemiptera: Miridae), are among the most important insect pests of cotton, Gosssypium hirsutum, in the mid-southern United States. These pests are currently managed primarily by insecticides; however, a new Bt toxin, Cry51Aa2.834_16 is under evaluation for control of thrips...
Background Tomato spotted wilt (TSW), early leaf spot (ELS), and late leaf spot (LLS) are three serious peanut diseases in the United States, causing tens of millions of dollars of annual economic losses. However, the genes underlying resistance to those diseases in peanut have not been well studied. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GW...
Emerging plant viruses are one of the greatest problems facing crop production worldwide, and have severe consequences in the developing world where subsistence farming is a major source of food production, and knowledge and resources for management are limited. In Africa, evolution of two viral disease complexes, cassava mosaic begomoviruses (CMBs...
Soybean vein necrosis virus (SVNV), a new virus in the genus Orthotospovirus, has been found in all soybean-growing regions in the United States and Ontario, Canada. Soybean thrips, Neohydatothrips variabilis (Beach) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), and eastern flower thrips, Franklin...
Tomato spotted wilt (TSW) is a serious virus disease of peanut in the United States. Breeding for TSWV resistance would be facilitated by the implementation of marker-assisted selection in breeding programs; however, genes associated with resistance have not been identified. Association mapping is a type of genetic mapping that can exploit relation...
In the United States (US), the sugarcane aphid (SCA) Melanaphis sacchari (Zehnter) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was introduced in the 1970s, however at that time it was only considered a pest of sugarcane. In 2013, a massive outbreak of M. sacchari occured on sorghum, resulting in significant economic damage to sorghum grown in North America including th...
Melanaphis sacchari habitus.
Apterous female left, neonate larva right (photography by A. Franck).
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Geographic distribution of the 106 samples included in this study.
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List of specimens with their microsatellite genotype and Genbank and BOLD COI accessions.
(XLSX)
Evidence of practical resistance of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to Bt cotton in the United States is debatable, supported with occasional reports of boll damage in the field. Our objective was to provide both empirical and long-term observational evidence of practical resistance by linking both in-season and end-of-season meas...
Traditional identification of thrips species based on morphology is difficult, laborious, and especially challenging for immature thrips. To support monitoring and management efforts of thrips as consistent and widespread pests of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), a probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay with crude DNA extraction was developed to...
The intensification of industrial agriculture has been enabled by improved crop varieties, genetically engineered crops, fertilizers, and pesticides. Over the past 20 y neonicotinoid seed treatments have been adopted worldwide, and are used on a large proportion of U.S. field crops. Although neonicotinoids are used widely, little is known about how...
Core Idea
Routine fungicide applications to soybean did not consistently affect kudzu bug suppression by Beauveria bassiana.
Declining populations of kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (F.), in the southeastern United States have been observed since 2013 and are generally attributed to increased prevalence of natural enemies. Beauveria bassiana (Bals....
A 2-yr study in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) was conducted to determine the abundance and species composition of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on different plant parts throughout the season in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Plant parts sampled included seedlings, terminals with two expanded leaves, leaves from...
Heteroplasmy is the existence of multiple mitochondrial DNA haplotypes within the cell. Although the number of reports of heteroplasmy is increasing for arthropods, the occurrence, number of variants, and origins are not well studied. In this research, the occurrence of heteroplasmy was investigated in Thrips tabaci, a putative species complex whos...
Knowledge of the relative influence of population- versus species-level genetic variation is important to understand patterns of phenotypic variation and ecological relationships that exist among and within morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species and subspecies. In the case of cryptic species groups that are pests, such knowledge is also...
STRUCTURE output for K values of 2–10.
(PDF)
Collection information for NY populations of Thrips tabaci.
(DOCX)
Background:
Over the past two decades, neonicotinoid seed treatments have become the primary method to manage tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca Hinds, on seedling cotton. Because this insect is highly polyphagous and the window of insecticide exposure is short, neonicotinoid resistance was expected to pose a minimal risk. However, reports of hig...
One hundred years ago, the disease tomato spotted wilt was first described in Australia. Since that time, knowledge of this disease caused by Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and transmitted by thrips (insects in the order Thysanoptera) has revealed a complex relationship between the virus, vector, plant host, and environment. Numerous tospoviruses...
Data and discussion will be presented on the structure of Thrips tabaci population genetics in onion, dispersal of populations among hosts, molecular tools for genetics research, and interaction of onion thrips with multiple hosts in the onion landscape.
The western flower thrips is a serious pest of multiple crops worldwide causing severe damage through direct feeding and transmission of tospoviruses, including tomato spotted wilt virus. The anthranilic diamide insecticide cyantraniliprole has been shown to alter feeding behavior of F. occidentalis and F. fusca on pepper. Herein we report on the f...
The anthranilic diamide insecticide cyantraniliprole has been shown to suppress aphid and whitefly populations as well as reduce transmission of plant viruses by thrips and whiteflies when taken up systemically by the plant. In this study, electrical penetration graphing (EPG) was used to compare effects of cyantraniliprole on feeding behavior of M...
The anthranilic diamide insecticide cyantraniliprole was previously shown to reduce transmission of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) to pepper, Capsicum annuum, by Frankliniella fusca but not Frankliniella occidentalis. This study examines the effects of cyantraniliprole and imidacloprid on thrips feeding using electrical penetration graphing (EPG)...