Spatiotemporal dynamics of Citrus tristeza virus in Cuba

The spatiotemporal dissemination of Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) was evaluated by DASI-ELISA in orange and grapefruit fields of six citrus producing regions in Cuba, and aphid populations were evaluated in two selected areas. The aphid species found in these areas were Toxoptera citricida (the most efficient vector of CTV), T. aurantii and Aphis spiraecola . A logistic model was the most appropriate to explain the temporal increase in the proportion of CTV-infected plants for almost all the fields. Although nearly all areas showed an increase in this proportion, there were regions of low CTV spread, which was slower in grapefruit than in orange fields. 2DCORR analysis indicated spatial dependence among immediately adjacent trees, higher in the within-row direction than in the across-row direction. Aggregation was also detected by dispersion index and binary power law fitting within quadrats of all sizes. For most fields, autocorrelation analysis showed a significant edge effect and spatial dependence among infected plants of different sub-areas. Based on these results a new tristeza management strategy was proposed for each region of the country.