Big Bud
HOSTS
- Tomato
- Pepper
DESCRIPTION
Big bud is caused by a small bacterium called phytoplasma. It infects the vascular tissue of the plants and causes abnormal growth of the stems and leaves.
BIOLOGY
The big bud phytoplasma infects plant phloem, the vascular tissue that moves food throughout the plant. When a leafhopper feeds on an infected plant, it will ingest some of the phytoplasma along with the plant sap. Before the leafhopper can transmit the disease, the phytoplasma will reproduce within the leafhopper and move to its salivary glands. After the short incubation period, the leafhopper will spread the disease as it feeds for the rest of its life.
The phytoplasma can only survive within living plant tissue or within a leafhopper.
SYMPTOMS
- Swollen flower buds
- Distorted flower and leaf growth
- Short and thick apical stems
- Yellow discoloration of foliage
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
- Remove infected plants
- Remove weeds around gardens and fields that can harbor the disease and play host to leafhoppers
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