Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2339, USA.
Sci Rep. 2012;2:578. doi: 10.1038/srep00578. Epub 2012 Aug 15.
Pathogens and parasites can induce changes in host or vector behavior that enhance their transmission. In plant systems, such effects are largely restricted to vectors, because they are mobile and may exhibit preferences dependent upon plant host infection status. Here we report the first evidence that acquisition of a plant virus directly alters host selection behavior by its insect vector. We show that the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi, after acquiring Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) during in vitro feeding, prefers noninfected wheat plants, while noninfective aphids also fed in vitro prefer BYDV-infected plants. This behavioral change should promote pathogen spread since noninfective vector preference for infected plants will promote acquisition, while infective vector preference for noninfected hosts will promote transmission. We propose the "Vector Manipulation Hypothesis" to explain the evolution of strategies in plant pathogens to enhance their spread to new hosts. Our findings have implications for disease and vector management.
病原体和寄生虫可以诱导宿主或媒介行为发生变化，从而增强其传播能力。在植物系统中，这种影响主要局限于媒介，因为它们是移动的，并且可能表现出依赖于植物宿主感染状态的偏好。在这里，我们首次报道了昆虫媒介在获得植物病毒后直接改变宿主选择行为的证据。我们发现，在体外喂食过程中获得大麦黄花叶病毒（BYDV）的麦二叉蚜更喜欢未感染的小麦植株，而在体外喂食的非感染性蚜虫也更喜欢感染 BYDV 的植株。这种行为变化应该会促进病原体的传播，因为非感染性媒介对感染植物的偏好将促进其获取，而感染性媒介对非感染性宿主的偏好将促进其传播。我们提出了“媒介操纵假说”来解释植物病原体为增强其向新宿主传播而进化的策略。我们的研究结果对疾病和媒介管理具有重要意义。
