A temperature-driven model for potato yellow vein virus transmission efficacy by Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Management of viral plant diseases can be improved by using models to predict disease spread. Potato yellow vein virus (PYVV) of the genus Crinivirus (Closteroviridae) is transmitted in a semi-persistent manner by the greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Although several approaches exist for modeling insect population growth, modeling vector-born virus spread remains difficult because fundamental knowledge on the relationship between virus transmission and temperature is lacking for most vector transmitted viruses. To address this challenge, we initially developed a temperature-dependent phenology model for the whitefly vector using the Insect Life Cycle Modeling (ILCYM) software. In the present study, the effect of temperature on the efficiency of virus transmission by the whitefly was determined through controlled laboratory experiments at 8 constant temperatures in the range from 10 to 25 °C. The vector capacity to transmit the virus was highest at 15 °C (about 70 % probability of infection) but decreased radically as temperature deviated from this optimum temperature to