Plant Protect. Sci., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/207/2024-PPS

An investigation of the presence of Xylella fastidiosa in Cicadomorpha specimens collected in different habitats in PolandOriginal Paper

Monika Kałużna ORCID...1, Grażyna Soika ORCID...1, Wojciech Warabieda ORCID...1
1 The National Institute of Horticultural Research, Skierniewice, Poland

A quarantine organism, the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa (Xf), is a xylem-inhabiting, vector-transmitted, Gram-negative, and very slow-growing bacterium in the Lysobacteraceae (earlier Xanthomonadaceae) family. The spreading of X. fastidiosa over long distances occurs mainly via import/export human-mediated transportation of mainly latently or symptomatically infected plant material. Short-distance distribution is usually by xylem sap-feeding insects. Until now, the presence of X. fastidiosa has not been reported or studied in Poland. During our study, over 500 individuals from the four families: Cicadellidae, Aphrophoridae, Delphacidae and Membracidae were collected in different geographical regions of Poland. Real-time PCR with primers for rimM gene and nested PCR to detect X. fastidiosa, using DNA extracted directly from selected insects known as potential vectors of X. fastidiosa, did not confirm the bacterium's presence in these insects.

Keywords: xylem-limited bacterium; insects; detection; real-time PCR; nested PCR

Received: November 7, 2024; Revised: October 27, 2025; Accepted: November 18, 2025; Prepublished online: March 18, 2026 

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