First attempts to identify eriophyoid mites in plant virology laboratory –from vector identification to mite diversity

Abstract: Eriophyoid mites from genera Abacarus, Aceria, Aculus, Cecidophyopsis,Colomerus, Eriophyes, and Phyllocoptes are known vectors of plant viruses from generaAllexivirus, Emaravirus, Nepovirus, Poacevirus, Trichovirus and Tritimovirus. We collectedmites from leaves of different plant hosts. In walnut we observed two kinds of mite-associatedleaf symptoms: blisters and scab-like galls. According to the literature, the most prevalent mitesassociated with observed symptoms are Aceria erinea and A. tristriata. Mites were collectedfrom symptomatic areas of leaves and the ITS1 region was amplified using primers MITS1 andMITS4. Obtained amplification products were excised from the gel and sequenced. Sequenceanalysis identified three diverse sequence groups; (1) from leaf with blisters, (2) from leaveswith scab-like galls collected at two locations, and (3) from two samples with diverse symptomsboth collected from neighboring plants. Our attempts for species identification on the basis ofobtained sequences failed due to the lack of sequence information of the before mentionederiophyoids in public databases.