Collaborative Research: The community ecology of viral pathogens - Causes and consequences of coinfection in hosts and vectors

Many individual host organisms, including humans, are simultaneously coinfected by multiple pathogen species. The diversity (number and identity) of coinfecting pathogens can modulate both pathogen transmission among hosts and pathogen impacts on hosts. Nonetheless, little is known about the processes that govern pathogen diversity. This research will integrate field experiments and mathematical models to study the causes and consequences of pathogen diversity. The study consists of a model system of five viral pathogens of grasses (the cereal and barley yellow dwarf viruses). This approach will allow the investigation of the interacting roles of the pathogen species themselves, the insect vectors that transmit them, their plant hosts, climate conditions, and spatial processes in controlling the dynamics of systems that include multiple pathogen species. Further, it will elucidate the mechanisms by which pathogens interact, and evaluate the consequences of these interactions for pathogen transmission and host fitness.

This study will be of both scientific and societal significance. The work will advance the understanding multi-pathogen dynamics - a key step towards developing a comprehensive understanding of the ecology of infectious disease. It will include participation of under-represented groups, community outreach, and dissemination of results through both public talks and peer-reviewed journals. The investigators will integrate this research with education at both K-12 and university levels. The pathogens are among the most economically important viruses of crops, so this study may have benefits for agriculture. Moreover, these pathogens provide an experimentally tractable model for vector-transmitted generalist pathogens, the dominant type of emerging pathogen of humans, crops, and other species.