Could vectors' fear of predators reduce the spread of plant diseases?

ABSTRACT: Predators influence the behaviour of prey and by doing so they potentially reduce pathogen transmission by a vector. Arthropod predators have been shown to reduce the consumption of plant biomass by pest herbivores, but their cascading non-consumptive effect on vector insects' feeding behaviour and subsequent pathogen transmission has not been investigated experimentally before. Here we experimentally examined predator-mediated pathogen transmission mechanisms using the plant pathogen Wheat Dwarf Virus that is transmitted by the leafhopper, Psammotettix alienus. We applied in situ hybridization to localize which leaf tissues were infected with transmitted virus DNA in barley host plants, proving that virus occurrence is restricted to phloem tissues. In the presence of the spider predator,

SUBMITTER: Tholt G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5992157 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature