THE EFFECT OF THE PRESENCE OF THE SECONDARY ENDOSYMBIONTS OF THE PEA APHID (ACYRTHOSIPHON PISUM) ON THE TRANSMISSION EFFICIENCY OF THE PEA ENATION MOSAIC VIRUS (PEMV) AND RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Oberle, Brad

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

The capacity of the pea aphid to transmit important pathogenic viruses, which affect peas and lentils worldwide, has to be examined in the context of climate change. The role of aphid bacterial endosymbionts and virus transmission rates has the potential to be related to changing temperatures. Two clonal colonies of pea aphids, descended from a single foundress, one found without a secondary endosymbiont, and a second colony of the same clonal line, but microinjected with the secondary endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa, were examined for their ability to transmit a virus, pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV), and resist extreme temperatures. The results of a secondary endosymbionts’ ability to transmit PEMV were inconclusive due to the complex role the bacteria play in the pea aphids’ response to temperature. Aphids with endosymbionts were found to have higher rates of survivorship in simulated heat wave events based on predicted climate change models in the Palouse region of Idaho.

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