Detection, identification and surveillance of Xylella fastidiosa on vectors in France

In France, the detection protocol of Xylella fastidiosa on vectors is based on the real-time PCR Harper et al., 2010 after a high throughput DNA extraction based on the QuickPick™ Plant DNA kit used with a KingFisher™ robot. This method  evaluated in 2016-2019 mainly on Philaenus spumarius showed excellent performance criteria on individuals and groups of insects, on spiked macerates of insects from healthy area and on naturally infected insects from outbreaks areas.
The centralization of surveillance data at Anses allowed producing zonal maps of the distribution of strains according to host species. They have been compared to compilation of results of detection and strain identification on insects Philaenus spumarius from Corsica and French Riviera regions.  A good correlation between both maps has been observed in the same area. This work is highlighting the complementary of the approaches on plants and insects in the framework of the epidemiological survey of the disease in a context of high risk for Europe.