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VECTOR-BORNE PATHOGENS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT CROPS LOSS EACH YEAR. INSECT-TRANSMITTED VIRUSES ARE COMMON AND PARTICULARLY DEVASTATING OCCURRENCES IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, RESULTING IN AN ESTIMATED ECONOMIC LOSS TOTALING SEVERAL BILLIONS OF US DOLLARS PER YEAR. CURRENT PREVENTION METHODS FOR MITIGATING VIRUS INFECTION IN CROPS ARE LIMITED AND THE FOCUS TO REDUCE VIRUS SPREAD IS TO CONTROL THE TRANSMITTING VECTOR POPULATIONS THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF BIOCIDES. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT INSECT-VECTORED VIRUSES INFLUENCE PLANT-INSECT INTERACTIONS THROUGH CHANGES IN HOST PLANT TRAITS, INCLUDING IMPACTS ON VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS). IT IS WELL-ESTABLISHED THAT VOCS MEDIATE INTERACTIONS AMONG PLANTS, INSECTS, AND THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES. THEREFORE, THE IMPACT OF PLANT VIRUSES ON VOCS MAY INFLUENCE VECTOR INTERACTIONS WITH HIGHER TROPHIC LEVELS. UNDERSTANDING HOW VIRUS-INDUCED CHANGES IN PLANT CHEMISTRY INFLUENCE MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS AND THE MECHANISMS THAT MEDIATE THESE INTERACTIONS COULD IMPROVE CURRENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE VECTOR NUMBERS AND DECREASE VIRUS SPREAD WITHIN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. ONE POTENTIAL METHOD TO MINIMIZE INSECT-VECTORED VIRUS TRANSMISSION IS THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS. NATURAL ENEMIES OF HERBIVORES CAN EXPLOIT CHANGES IN BOTH IN PLANT-DERIVED VOCS TO LOCATE THEIR HOSTS. BOTH PREDACEOUS INSECTS AND PARASITOID WASPS ARE WIDELY USED AS BIOLOGICAL CONTROL FOR PEST MANAGEMENT IN GREENHOUSE AND AGRICULTURAL SETTINGS. A MAJOR GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO ELUCIDATE HOW VIRUS INFECTION IMPACTS POTATO-APHID-PARASITOID INTERACTIONS AND DETERMINE THE MECHANISMS MEDIATING THESE INTERACTIONS. IN THIS PROJECT, I WILL INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF VIRUS-INFECTION ON PARASITOID PREFERENCE TO AND PERFORMANCE ON APHID INFESTED POTATO PLANTS AND CHARACTERIZE THE UNDERLYING CHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS MEDIATING THESE EFFECTS. THE FINDINGS OF THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE ON THE CHEMICAL ECOLOGY OF MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS INAGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, IDENTIFY THE MECHANISMS MEDIATING MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS, AND WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE CURRENT BIOCONTROL METHODS USED IN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM).

$164,996FY2020National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

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VECTOR-BORNE PATHOGENS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT CROPS LOSS EACH YEAR. INSECT-TRANSMITTED VIRUSES ARE COMMON AND PARTICULARLY DEVASTATING OCCURRENCES IN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, RESULTING IN AN ESTIMATED ECONOMIC LOSS TOTALING SEVERAL BILLIONS OF US DOLLARS PER YEAR. CURRENT PREVENTION METHODS FOR MITIGATING VIRUS INFECTION IN CROPS ARE LIMITED AND THE FOCUS TO REDUCE VIRUS SPREAD IS TO CONTROL THE TRANSMITTING VECTOR POPULATIONS THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF BIOCIDES. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT INSECT-VECTORED VIRUSES INFLUENCE PLANT-INSECT INTERACTIONS THROUGH CHANGES IN HOST PLANT TRAITS, INCLUDING IMPACTS ON VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS). IT IS WELL-ESTABLISHED THAT VOCS MEDIATE INTERACTIONS AMONG PLANTS, INSECTS, AND THEIR NATURAL ENEMIES. THEREFORE, THE IMPACT OF PLANT VIRUSES ON VOCS MAY INFLUENCE VECTOR INTERACTIONS WITH HIGHER TROPHIC LEVELS. UNDERSTANDING HOW VIRUS-INDUCED CHANGES IN PLANT CHEMISTRY INFLUENCE MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS AND THE MECHANISMS THAT MEDIATE THESE INTERACTIONS COULD IMPROVE CURRENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE VECTOR NUMBERS AND DECREASE VIRUS SPREAD WITHIN AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. ONE POTENTIAL METHOD TO MINIMIZE INSECT-VECTORED VIRUS TRANSMISSION IS THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENTS. NATURAL ENEMIES OF HERBIVORES CAN EXPLOIT CHANGES IN BOTH IN PLANT-DERIVED VOCS TO LOCATE THEIR HOSTS. BOTH PREDACEOUS INSECTS AND PARASITOID WASPS ARE WIDELY USED AS BIOLOGICAL CONTROL FOR PEST MANAGEMENT IN GREENHOUSE AND AGRICULTURAL SETTINGS. A MAJOR GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO ELUCIDATE HOW VIRUS INFECTION IMPACTS POTATO-APHID-PARASITOID INTERACTIONS AND DETERMINE THE MECHANISMS MEDIATING THESE INTERACTIONS. IN THIS PROJECT, I WILL INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF VIRUS-INFECTION ON PARASITOID PREFERENCE TO AND PERFORMANCE ON APHID INFESTED POTATO PLANTS AND CHARACTERIZE THE UNDERLYING CHEMICAL AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS MEDIATING THESE EFFECTS. THE FINDINGS OF THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE ON THE CHEMICAL ECOLOGY OF MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS INAGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, IDENTIFY THE MECHANISMS MEDIATING MULTI-TROPHIC INTERACTIONS, AND WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE CURRENT BIOCONTROL METHODS USED IN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM). · GrantIndex