Elin Falla -- A mathematical model centred on aphid vector feeding behaviour has implications for plant host manipulation by plant viruses [ONLINE]
| Dates: | 9 October 2024 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Department of Mathematics |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, External researchers, Current University students |
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| Speaker: | Elin Falla |
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Join us for this seminar by Elin Falla (Cambridge) as part of the North West Seminar Series in Mathematical Biology and Data Science. More details about the joint series can be found here https://northwestseminars.great-site.net/ .
The talk will be hosted by the University of Liverpool and available to watch via zoom. Please contact carl.whitfield@manchester.ac.uk or mdomijan@liverpool.ac.uk for the link, or sign up to the mailing list.
Title: A mathematical model centred on aphid vector feeding behaviour has implications for plant host manipulation by plant viruses
Abstract: Plant viruses threaten global food security and are often horizontally transmitted by arthropod vectors. Non-persistently transmitted (NPT) plant viruses are characterised by a short virus retention time in the vector and are transmitted almost exclusively by aphids, attached transiently to the aphid’s stylet (mouthparts) and acquired and inoculated via brief epidermal probes. Many NPT viruses can alter their host plant’s phenotype to change the behaviour of aphids in a way that often optimises virus transmission. Mechanistic epidemiological models of this phenomenon have historically overlooked a key feature of NPT virus transmission: probing or feeding on a plant often causes an aphid to lose the virus. A recent model by Donnelly et al. (2019) captures this behaviour, but assumes an aphid is guaranteed to lose the virus after probing one healthy plant. Very few experimental studies have explored the number of consecutive plants an aphid can probe before virus loss, but the limited evidence suggests this assumption is not justified. Our new compartmental mathematical model includes the ability of an aphid to probe, and potentially inoculate, consecutive plants, while also linking aphid feeding behaviour to virus transmission. We use our novel model structure to explore the effect of NPT virus-induced host phenotypes on epidemic outcomes. We find that previous models underestimate the benefit of an “attract-and-deter” phenotype, where the virus induces increased aphid attraction to the infected plant but deters them from prolonged feeding. Our results also highlight the importance of characterising NPT virus longevity within the aphid during probing, as allowing for consecutive infective probes increases the effectiveness of virus manipulation, with implications for NPT virus epidemic prediction and control.
R. Donnelly, N. J. Cunniffe, J. P. Carr, and C. A. Gilligan. Pathogenic modification of plants enhances long-distance dispersal of nonpersistently transmitted viruses to new hosts. Ecology, 100(7):e02725, 2019.
This is joint work with Prof. Nick Cunniffe.
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Speaker
Elin Falla
Role: PhD Student
Organisation: University of Cambridge
Travel and Contact Information
