Abstract
Thrips-borne tospoviruses cause numerous plant diseases that produce severe economic losses worldwide. In the disease system, thrips not only damage plants through feeding but also transmit causative agents of epidemics. In addition, thrips are infected with tospoviruses in the course of virus transmission. Most studies on the effect of tospoviruses on vector thrips have focused on the Tomato spotted wilt virus–Frankliniella occidentalis system. Thus, we focused on another thrips-borne tospovirus, Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV), to examine the effect of virus infection on its vector, Thrips palmi. In this study, the direct and indirect effects of WSMoV on the life history traits and feeding preference of T. palmi were examined. The survival rate and developmental time of the WSMoV-infected larval thrips did not differ significantly from those of the virus-free thrips. Comparing the developmental time of larval thrips fed on the healthy plants, thrips-damaged plants, and thrips-inoculated plants (the WSMoV-infected plants caused by thrips feeding), feeding on the thrips-damaged plants reduced the developmental time, and the WSMoV infection in host plants partially canceled the effect of thrips damage on the developmental time. In addition, no significant variations between the virus-free and WSMoV-infected adult thrips regarding longevity and fecundity were observed. These results implied that WSMoV did not directly affect the life history traits of T. palmi, but the WSMoV infection indirectly affected the development of T. palmi through the virus-infected plants. Furthermore, feeding preference tests indicated that T. palmi preferred feeding on either the thrips-damaged plants or the thrips-inoculated plants to the healthy plants. The effect of tospoviruses on the life history and feeding preference of vector thrips might vary among host plants, virus species, vector species, and environmental factors.
Highlights
The majority (76%) of plant viruses is vector borne, and most of them are transmitted by hemipteran insects [1]
The direct effect of Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) on T. palmi was assessed based on the survival rates and developmental times of the virus-free and viruliferous larvae fed on the bean leaves
The results suggested that thrips damage and the WSMoV infection of host plants did not affect the survival of T. palmi
Summary
The majority (76%) of plant viruses is vector borne, and most of them are transmitted by hemipteran insects [1]. Insect-transmitted plant viruses cause numerous plant diseases that produce severe economic losses worldwide. Despite thrips-borne viruses account for only 2% of described plant viruses [1], they cause various crop disease epidemics of economic and social significance [2,3,4]. Thrips-borne Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is an infamous plant virus worldwide. TSWV can infect more than 900 plant species, and at least nine thrips species are reported to transmit the virus from plant to plant [3,5]. TSWV is persistent and replicates within its vector thrips to other tospoviruses [6,7]; thrips play two roles in the disease system: host and vector
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