Survival relative to new and ancestral host plants, phytoplasma infection, and genetic constitution in host races of a polyphagous insect disease vector.

ABSTRACT: Dissemination of vectorborne diseases depends strongly on the vector's host range and the pathogen's reservoir range. Because vectors interact with pathogens, the direction and strength of a vector's host shift is vital for understanding epidemiology and is embedded in the framework of ecological specialization. This study investigates survival in host-race evolution of a polyphagous insect disease vector, Hyalesthes obsoletus, whether survival is related to the direction of the host shift (from field bindweed to stinging nettle), the interaction with plant-specific strains of obligate vectored pathogens/symbionts (stolbur phytoplasma), and whether survival is related to genetic differentiation between the host races. We used a twice repeated, identical nested experimental design to study

SUBMITTER: Maixner M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4161181 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature