engleski

GLOBAL PATTERNS IN INSECTS AND FUNGI OF DORMANT TWIGS OF NATIVE AND EXOTIC TREE SPECIES

Live plants are often traded in their dormant stage, among other reasons to reduce the introduction of new pests. However, the pests associated with this pathway are largely unknown. Risk mitigation relies on pest risk assessments which can only be performed for known pests. It is therefore important to identify potential pests before the introduction occurs. In addition, post arrival host shifts are very difficult to predict. Several studies attempted to estimate the likelihood of host shifts based on existing literature data on known pest-host associations, but the number of pests in these studies was often limited and the data were unlikely collected in the same place and at the same time. To overcome these problems, we performed a global study which aimed at detecting potential insect pests and fungal pathogens on selected congeneric native and exotic tree species in 33 countries. Samples were taken in botanical gardens and arboreta on the Northern and Southern hemisphere. At each location, twenty 50 cm long twigs were collected from tree species of up to six genera and kept in containers with water at room temperature for insect emergence. Emerged insects were collected and identified based on morphology and DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial DNA COI region. DNA was also extracted from pooled buds, twig parts and needles for the identification of fungi based on the ribosomal DNA ITS region using a high-throughput sequencing approach. Here, we present the first results of this study and discuss them in the context of pest risk assessment.

woody plants, trade, insect pests and fungal pathogens, host shift, pest risk assessment

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