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Immunofluorescent Labeling of Plant Virus and Insect Vector Proteins in Hemipteran Guts
Published on: May 14, 2021
Complex interactions between a plant pathogen and insect parasitoid via the shared vector-host: consequences for host
1Division of Biology, Imperial College, South Kensington, London, UK. s.hodge@imperial.ac.uk
Oecologia
|June 21, 2008
Summary
Plant viruses and parasitoids interact with aphids and host plants. While parasitoids reduce aphid longevity, they increase virus spread through aphid dispersal, impacting plant infection rates.
Area of Science:
- Plant pathology
- Entomology
- Ecology
Background:
- Plant viruses manipulate aphid vectors, affecting host plants.
- Hymenopterous parasitoids can also be influenced by plant pathogens in shared aphid hosts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interactions between pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV), the aphid vector Acyrthosiphon pisum, and the parasitoid Aphidius ervi in a bean (Vicia faba) host plant system.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory and glasshouse microcosms were used.
- Experiments involved infected and uninfected Vicia faba plants, Acyrthosiphon pisum aphids (PEMV carriers and non-carriers), and Aphidius ervi parasitoids.
Main Results:
- PEMV infection did not alter aphid growth, morphology, or virus transmission ability.
- Parasitism by Aphidius ervi reduced aphid longevity but increased aphid movement and dispersal.
- Parasitized aphids showed increased dispersal, leading to higher PEMV infection rates in bean plants (70%) compared to controls (25%).
Conclusions:
- Parasitoids can have complex effects in plant-pathogen-vector systems.
- Reduced aphid herbivory due to parasitism must be weighed against increased virus spread caused by parasitoid-induced aphid dispersal.
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