Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 108, Issue 23, Pages 9350-9355Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1100773108
Keywords
virus evolution; Tospovirus; virus-vector interactions
Categories
Funding
- College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Vector infection by some animal-infecting parasites results in altered feeding that enhances transmission. Modification of vector behavior is of broad adaptive significance, as parasite fitness relies on passage to a new host, and vector feeding is nearly always essential for transmission. Although several plant viruses infect their insect vectors, we have shown that vector infection by a plant virus alters feeding behavior. Here we show that infection with Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), type member of the only plant-infecting genus in the Bunyaviridae, alters the feeding behavior of its thrips vector, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). Male thrips infected with TSWV fed more than uninfected males, with the frequency of all feeding behaviors increasing by up to threefold, thus increasing the probability of virus inoculation. Importantly, infected males made almost three times more noningestion probes (probes in which they salivate, but leave cells largely undamaged) compared with uninfected males. A functional cell is requisite for TSWV infection and cell-to-cell movement; thus, this behavior is most likely to establish virus infection. Some animal-infecting members of the Bunyaviridae (La Crosse virus and Rift Valley fever virus) also cause increased biting rates in infected vectors. Concomitantly, these data support the hypothesis that capacity to modify vector feeding behavior is a conserved trait among plant-and animal-infecting members of the Bunyaviridae that evolved as a mechanism to enhance virus transmission. Our results underscore the evolutionary importance of vector behavioral modification to diverse parasites with host ranges spanning both plant and animal kingdoms.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available