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3 - Insect transmission of viruses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Stéphane Blanc
Affiliation:
UMR Biologie et Génétique des Interactions Plante-Parasite (BGPI), CIRAD-INRA-ENSAM, TA 41/K, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
S. H. Gillespie
Affiliation:
University College London
G. L. Smith
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Obligate parasites all rely on their host for survival. Transfer from one host to another is thus a key aspect of their life cycle, ensuring both their maintenance (vertical and horizontal transmission) and spread (primarily horizontal transmission) in the environment. Vertical transmission, i.e. the passage of a parasite directly from one host to its descendant(s), is a strategy that does not involve passage outside the host, and so maintains the parasite in an amiable environment. However, the success of this transmission strategy depends on the survival of the host line. Furthermore, it restricts parasite spread within the host population. In fact, the survival of the parasite population is directly related to host fitness. Thus vertical transmission may be expected to lead to parasite populations with lower virulence or to non-pathogenic interactions (Frank, 1996; Day, 2001; Weiss, 2002).

All pathogens have evolved additional (or even exclusive) strategies for horizontal transmission, with an impressive diversity of mechanisms that will be the focus of the present chapter. Pathogens are found among viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa and metazoa but the tremendous richness of transmission strategies mentioned above is certainly best illustrated by viruses. Examples of horizontal transmission of organisms other than viruses are described in several sections of this symposium volume. Some viruses have, like other pathogens, developed the ability to transfer from infected to healthy hosts by contact or through passage in the external medium, via a variety of propagating forms (Kuno, 2001). Most viruses, however, exploit an additional organism, itself travelling from host to host, as a transportation device (referred to as a vector).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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  • Insect transmission of viruses
    • By Stéphane Blanc, UMR Biologie et Génétique des Interactions Plante-Parasite (BGPI), CIRAD-INRA-ENSAM, TA 41/K, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
  • Edited by S. H. Gillespie, University College London, G. L. Smith, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, A. Osbourn
  • Book: Microbe-vector Interactions in Vector-borne Diseases
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754845.004
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  • Insect transmission of viruses
    • By Stéphane Blanc, UMR Biologie et Génétique des Interactions Plante-Parasite (BGPI), CIRAD-INRA-ENSAM, TA 41/K, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
  • Edited by S. H. Gillespie, University College London, G. L. Smith, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, A. Osbourn
  • Book: Microbe-vector Interactions in Vector-borne Diseases
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754845.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Insect transmission of viruses
    • By Stéphane Blanc, UMR Biologie et Génétique des Interactions Plante-Parasite (BGPI), CIRAD-INRA-ENSAM, TA 41/K, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
  • Edited by S. H. Gillespie, University College London, G. L. Smith, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, A. Osbourn
  • Book: Microbe-vector Interactions in Vector-borne Diseases
  • Online publication: 06 July 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511754845.004
Available formats
×