Host plant-mediation of viral transmission and its consequences for a native butterfly.

Autor: Christensen T; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA., Dyer LA; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA., Forister ML; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA., Bowers MD; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA., Carper A; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA., Teglas MB; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA., Hurtado P; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA., Smilanich AM; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.; Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology [Ecology] 2024 Apr; Vol. 105 (4), pp. e4282. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 14.
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4282
Abstrakt: Pathogens play a key role in insect population dynamics, contributing to short-term fluctuations in abundance as well as long-term demographic trends. Two key factors that influence the effects of entomopathogens on herbivorous insect populations are modes of pathogen transmission and larval host plants. In this study, we examined tritrophic interactions between a sequestering specialist lepidopteran, Euphydryas phaeton, and a viral pathogen, Junonia coenia densovirus, on its native host plant, Chelone glabra, and a novel host plant, Plantago lanceolata, to explore whether host plant mediates viral transmission, survival, and viral loads. A two-factor factorial experiment was conducted in the laboratory with natal larval clusters randomly assigned to either the native or novel host plant and crossed with either uninoculated controls or viral inoculation (20% of individuals in the cluster inoculated). Diapausing clusters were overwintered in the laboratory and checked weekly for mortality. At the end of diapause, all surviving individuals were reared to adulthood to estimate survivorship. All individuals were screened to quantify viral loads, and estimate horizontal transmission postmortem. To test for vertical transmission, adults were mated, and the progeny were screened for viral presence. Within virus-treated groups, we found evidence for both horizontal and vertical transmission. Larval clusters reared on the native host plant had slightly higher horizontal transmission. Survival probability was lower in clusters feeding on the native host plant, with inoculated groups reared on the native host plant experiencing complete mortality. Viral loads did not differ by the host plant, although viral loads decreased with increased sequestration of secondary compounds on both host plants. Our results indicate that the use of a novel host plant may confer fitness benefits in terms of survival and reduced viral transmission when larvae feeding on it are infected with this pathogen, supporting hypotheses of potential evolutionary advantages of a host range expansion in the context of tritrophic interactions.
(© 2024 The Ecological Society of America.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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