HORTICULTURE AND FORESTRY - REVIEW Aceria kuko Mites: a Comprehensive Review of their Phytosanitary Risk, Pathways and Control Roxana CICEOI *, Elena Ștefania MARDARE University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Laboratory of Diagnosis and *)Plant Protection of Research Center for Studies of Food Quality and Agricultural Products, Bd. Marasti, no.59, 011464, Bucharest, Romania Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] BulletinUASVM Horticulture 73(2) / 2016 Print ISSN 1843-5254, Electronic ISSN 1843-5394 DOI:10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:12264 Abstract Aceria kuko The present review aims to identify the phytosanitary risk, the dissemination pathways and the possible control methods of , the goji-berries gall mite, which was imported to Europe from China via orders by mail in 2007. Despite the first eradicativeSolanaceae measures taken by the UK in 2008 and Germany in 2011, the pest was found again in Germany (2012), in Slovenia (2012), in Cyprus (2013), in Romania (2013), in Hungary (2014) and in Serbia (2015). Although the import of Aceria kuko intended for planting is prohibited in Europe, the parcels ordered by mail escape the pest and disease control services. Our field observations regarding the attack frequency, attack intensity and the losses indicate that is a potential threat for goji growers. Monitoring the presence of the mite in the Romanian Goji plantations should therefore be regarded as a biosafety measure not only for Romania,Keywords but forAceria entire kuko,Europe. biosafety, Lycium barbarum, nonindigenous pest, pest risk assessment : INTRODUCTION Aceria kuko Eriophyidae TheAceria goji berries gall mite, (Kishida, Global trade has been widely acknowledged 1927) belongs to the family and its as one of the leadinget al. causes of the introductionmo- etgenus, al. , includeset overal. 900 species which are netaryof invasive impacts alien of species IAS in Europe(IAS) on amount a new toterritory a total known to be taxonomically problematic (Magud of(Colunga-Garcia 12.5 billion EUR/year , 2013) and theet totalal. “ , 2007). Navia , in 2009, conclude that because of their veryEriophyid small size, that makes them ” (Kettunen , 2008). difficult to be detected and so easily distributed All around the globe, the Internet sales represent by world trade, mites have a high a serious threat, as the undetected, alien species potential as invasive alien species. The new goji may bypass the pest quarantine and control ser- pest had been for the first time reported on the vices. As example, in UK, the purchasing of plants European territory of United Kingdom, in April from larger traders who have their own websites, 2008, and was discovered by chance, following from the small companies or nurseries that pro- one regular inspection of some goji plants in a mote their products on E-commerce websites, nursery in Guernsey. Following this inspection, from the private persons who uses the sharing/ an entire businesset al. of illegal import of goji plants trading websites or from national newspapers and was discovered (Anderson and Ostoja-Starzewski, magazines that runs special promotionet al.for plants 2009; Giltrap , 2009). The European and supplying is considered an increasing trend, but in Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization the same time a major threat (Giltrap , 2009). (EPPO) mentioned the new finding and the actions 90 CICEOI & MARDARE chinense in August and September 2008, samplestaken by ofthe severely UK authorities distorted in leaves EPPO ofRS ‘Goji’ 2008/222, plants (Huang, 2008). The same doubt had had werestating received that “by the Central Science Laboratory also the first researchers who hadet al. identified the (CSL) from 3 geographically distant parts of onepest inLycium the UK barbarum (Ostoja-Starzewski, 2009). In the England The infested plants were destroyed paper published in 2014, Balanto the Aceria mention kuko thatgall and further surveillance will be carried out by mite’s attack, the degree biotypeof attack wasbeing vulnerable 41%. The phytosanitary (…) inspectors. Publicity and advice will miteto powdery is specific mildew to Lycium and “ species and probably continue to be given to attract the attention of the came with the biological material, although it was general public to the risks presented by these illegal not observed at planting. However, it should be imports of Lycium spp. plants noted that neither fruit quantity nor quality was Aceria kuko negatively affected .” Following this first record, was reported again in 2011 in et al. .” Our field observation depicts Germany (EPPO RS 2011/218; Steinmöller and a different situation, as it will be further presented. Unger, 2012), then again in 2012 in Germany (EPPO Chireceanu , in 2015, mentions the European RS 2012/233),et al. in Slovenia (Seljak, 2013), in 2013 countries were the pest had been reported till etin al.Cyprus (Seraphides, 2014), in Serbia in 2014 L.2015 chinense, - United L. Kingdom, barbarum, Netherlands, Solanum nigrum Greece and (Vidović , 2015), in Hungary in 2015 (Ripka CapsicumSlovenia andannuum the fact that the pests develop on , 2015). Despite the first eradicative measures and taken by the UK in 2008 and Germany in 2011, the . The authourswith affirm the thatinfested the pest was found againAceria in these kuko countries. It has to plantpest wasmaterial identified brought in froma research China experimental be said that in the EPPO Global Database, EPPO field and that it was introduced “ code ACEIKU, the mite distribution could be a threat to the”, insisting cultures onof was last updated on 14 January 2013, when only economicthe fact that interest the plants of Solanaceae were heavily family affected and two European countries – Germany and the United that the pest “ Kingdom, mentioned to have identified the pest on Aceria kuko ”. their territory. Germany appears with the status A complete overview of the threats that “transient, under eradication” while in the United Lycium might barbarumraise for Europe would not be Kingdom the pest status is “absent, intercepted complete without analysing the situation of its only”. Those statuses are justified by the intensive host plant. , popularly known as eradication measures taken by the two countries wolfberry or “goji” from the Chinese “gou qi”, had at that time, to eliminate the new alien pest. been extensively advertisedet al. as the “superfruit” of It has neither been proved that the undertaken the century, having major sanogenic properties eradication measures in those two countries were (Mencinicopschi L., 2012).barbarum In their review effective, nor that the illegal import of plants has from 2011, aging,Amagase neuroprotection, and Farnsworth general mention well- stopped in other European countries. Aceria kuko, being,that the fatigue/endurance,studies on metabolism/energy indicate its In Romania, until the present moment there expenditure,effects on “ glucose control in diabetics, glaucoma, are only 3 mentions ofet theal. presence of anti-oxidant properties, immunomodulation, one in 2013 (Mencinicopschiet al. and Balan, 2013b), antitumor activity and cytoprotection” one in 2014 (Balan , 2014) and the last one in 2015 (Chireceanu Aceria, 2015), kuko all three being . Having presumptively from the same place in Bucharest. this said, it is understandable why the imports of The possibility to have in our country goji plants intendedLycium for barbarum planting have increased even before this date is high, as imports of Goji dramatically in the recent years (Potterat, 2009). plants originated from China started long before In the same time, grows wild into this date. Actually, the pest had been identified on etEurope al. and is considered by some scientist either imported goji plants, planted in 2010 for a field trial eta sub-spontaneous,al. naturalized plant (Doroftei of a doctoral thesis (Mencinicopschi and Balan, , 2005) either an invasive plant (Anastasiu 2013 a,c). The author only mentions that the pest , 2005, Paukovaet al. 2013). It is a hemerophyte had been reportedAceria kuko in UK, Japan and Holland,Lycium but plant (introduced from elsewhere cultivated states that the data are uncertain, as some authors plant) (Ferus , 2015) neophyte plant (recently Bulletinaffirm UASVM that Horticulture 73(2) / is2016 monophagous on introduced plant in an area), initially introduced Aceria kuko 91 Research About Improvement the Aromatique Mites: a Comprehensive Review of their Phytosanitary Risk as ornamental, although the first mention as a Oxford Journals, CAB Abstracts, Google Scholar, wild plant dates since 1842-1848 in Moldova AgrisFao, simple google research. (Culita S, 2007), both an anthropochorous Although the present article is a review, (seeds transported by human actions, typically considering the fact that we did not publish inadvertent, into new geographicalet al. areas) and yet our own research results, we will also use endozochorus plantSolanaceous (seed dispersal realized by some unpublished pictures and data, as they are animal ingestion) (Ferus 2015). Goji plants considered necessary to demonstrate the actual belong to the family, which means situation in Romania. Our observations were made they are susceptible to certain dangerous pests in the experimental field of USAMV Bucharest, both and diseases common with plants of economic on potted (one-year-old plants) and planted in the importance, such as potato, pepper or tomato and field goji-berries plants (six years old plants). Our as they are perennials and relatively