On 5 October, Cassie Ettinger from UC Riverside will join the Xylella Files Autumn Webinars to unlock the secrets of insecticide resistance. Ettinger will discuss research into the resistance developed by Homalodrisca vitripennis (the glassy-winged sharpshooter vector of Xylella fastidiosa in American grapes) to neonicotinoid insecticides.

As the bug has spread throughout California, the prolonged use of broad-spectrum insecticides to control its population has led to widespread neonicotinoid resistance in the southern parts of California’s Central Valley.

Research has sought solutions to develop new population management strategies, using two approaches. First, scientists performed RNA sequencing on wild-caught insecticide-resistant and relatively susceptible sharpshooters to profile their transcriptome and population structure. A second avenue of research has been to characterise the mycobiome and microbiome of sharpshooters across southern California and to explore correlations with captivity and host insecticide resistance status. Cattinger will discuss the results of these two efforts.

For further information, please get in touch with Rodrigo Almeyda.