title: Manipulation of Host Quality and Defense by a Plant Virus Improves Performance of Whitefly Vectors.
abstract: Pathogen-mediated interactions between insect vectors and their host plants can affect herbivore fitness and the epidemiology of plant diseases. While the role of plant quality and defense in mediating these tripartite interactions has been recognized, there are many ecologically and economically important cases where the nature of the interaction has yet to be characterized. The Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) cryptic species Mediterranean (MED) is an important vector of tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), and performs better on virus-infected tomato than on uninfected controls. We assessed the impact of TYLCV infection on plant quality and defense, and the direct impact of TYLCV infection on MED feeding. We found that although TYLCV infection has a minimal direct impact on MED, the virus alters the nutritional content of leaf tissue and phloem sap in a manner beneficial to MED. TYLCV infection also suppresses herbivore-induced production of plant defensive enzymes and callose deposition. The strongly positive net effect on TYLCV on MED is consistent with previously reported patterns of whitefly behavior and performance, and provides a foundation for further exploration of the molecular mechanisms responsible for these effects and the evolutionary processes that shape them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan 410128, China. Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881.
authors.forename: Evan L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Preisser
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan 410128, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Mao
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Bai Ming
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Shao Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
authors.forename: Qing Jun
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Protection, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China. zhangyoujun@caas.cn.
authors.forename: You Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053839:Begomovirus / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000821:virology*
keywords: Bemisia tabaci MED; Solanum lycopersicum; Tomato yellow leaf curl virus; mutualism; persistent transmission; plant defense; plant–virus–vector interactions