진딧물을 조종해 확산되는 바이러스

바이러스는 감염을 확산시키고자 진딧물이 찾아오게 하려고 식물의 생화학을 변화시킨다 

BBSRC의 자금을 받은 캠브리지 대학의 연구진은 바이러스가 이미 감염된 작물에 영원히 정착하여 곤충들의 기를 꺾고, 건강한 작물에 감염을 확산되도록 진디를 앞잡이로 이용한다는 것을 밝혔다. 

진디는 여러 유형의 식물을 공격하고 작물을 감염시키는 바이러스의 매개체가 되는 수액을 빨아먹는 곤충이다. 작물을 감염시키는 바이러스는 진디가 찾아오도록 식물의 냄새와 맛 같은 생화확을 변화시킨다. 이는 건강한 작물로 바이러스를 무의식적으로 빠르게 퍼뜨리는 원인이 되어, 곤충을 쫓아버린다. 

이 연구는 아프리카의 농업에 중요할 수 있다. 다양한 기관과 함께 일하는 John Carr 박사와 동료들은 중요한 작물에서 진디를 유인하는 식물을 배치함으로써 바이러스 감염의 확산을 막아 자원이 빈약한 농민들의 생계를 돕고자 하고 있다. 

About this research, Dr Carr said: "The work started almost accidentally when about five years ago a student and I noticed that aphids became sick or died when confined on a virus-infected plant. It's an illustration of how research driven by curiosity can lead to findings that could have a positive impact in the real world – in this case in combating crop-damaging insects and the viruses they transmit."

The Cambridge team collaborated with researchers at Imperial College, London, using Arabidopsis plants as hosts and monitoring the effect that the crop-infecting cucumber mosaic virus had. It was observed that the virus launched a concerted attack on the plant's immune system whilst concurrently altering its biochemistry; in this way, the weakened Arabidopsis plant was unable to fight off either its attacker or visiting aphids. The aphids, instantly repelled by the smell and taste of the plant, left for healthier plants, but not before landing on the plant and contracting the virus. In this way, the mosaic virus ensured that the spread of the infection would be self-sustaining and highly efficient.

This research focuses on an example of what evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has called the 'extended phenotype'. For Dawkins, the word 'phenotype' (the traits of an organism) should not be limited solely to biological processes, but should also be used to describe all effects that a gene has on the organism or environment in which it exists, or other organisms nearby. In this case, it was discovered that a virus influences the infected host, the Arabidopsis plant, and forces the host to change in a way that is beneficial to the parasite.

This revolutionary research has been done as part of a £16M Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development (SCPRID) initiative to use bioscience in the improvement of food security in developing countries. Bioscience is playing an increasingly crucial part in meeting the challenges of feeding an ever-expanding population, projected to increase to 9 billion people by 2050. By developing ways to mitigate pest impact and reduce the spread of parasites, scientists are working to ensure successful harvests, now and in the future.

The study was published in the journal PLOS onE.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The paper 'A trio of viral proteins tunes aphid-plant interactions in Arabidopsis thaliana' is published in PLOS onE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083066

This work is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development (SCPRID) programme, which is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Department for International Development (DFID) and (through a grant awarded to BBSRC) the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Cambridge team worked with groups at Rothamsted Research (UK), Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute Hub (BecA-ILRI Hub), Nairobi, Kenya, and the Eastern and Central Africa Bean Research Network (ECABREN) coordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Kampala, Uganda.