Ep. 5. Cucumber Mosaic Virus Increases Plant Fertility

The cucumber mosaic virus is a plant virus vectored by aphids. The virus can decrease yields, which would ultimately result in the plant produce less progeny. In a natural environment, we would expect high virus pressure to quickly result in selection for virus-resistant plants. However, the virus counteracts the negative impact on plant fertility by manipulating plant physiology to make it more attractive to pollinators!

Full citation below:

Groen, S.C., Jiang, S., Murphy, A.M., Cunniffe, N.J., Westwood, J.H., Davey, M.P., Bruce, T.J.A., Caulfield, J.C., Furzer, O.J., Reed, A., Robinson, S.I., Miller, E., Davis, C.N., Pickett, J.A., Whitney, H.M., Glover, B.J., Carr, J.P., 2016. Virus Infection of Plants Alters Pollinator Preference: A Payback for Susceptible Hosts? PLoS Pathog. 12, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005790