Premium
Interactions between cassava mealybug and cassava: cytochemical aspects of plant cell wall modifications
Author(s) -
Calatayud P. A.,
Boher B.,
Nicole M.,
Geiger J. P.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
entomologia experimentalis et applicata
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1570-7458
pISSN - 0013-8703
DOI - 10.1111/j.1570-7458.1996.tb00927.x
Subject(s) - biology , mealybug , botany , pest analysis
The cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), a serious pest of cassava in Africa, is an oligophagous insect mainly living on cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) (Matile-Ferrero, 1976). Following the demonstration of an aphid-type phloem-feeding behaviour of cassava mealybug with an aphid-like predominance of extracellular pathways of stylets (Calatayud et al., 1994), host-plant resistance of cassava to P. manihoti has been investigated. The hypothesis was that P. manihoti secretes enzymes to facilitate intercellular stylet penetration by digestion of plant middle lamellae and primary cell walls. We suggested that pectinesterase isolated from mealybugs could be involved in plant pectin degradation; however, no polygalacturonase was detected (Calatayud, 1993).