VIEW ARTICLE

Vector Relations

Pea Enation Mosaic Virus Transmission by the Pea Aphid: A Multiphase Model of Virus Transmission. W. M. Getz, Assistant biomathematician, Departments of Entomological Sciences and Plant Pathology and Division of Biological Control, University of California, Berkeley 94720; E. S. Sylvester(2), and J. Richardson(3). (2)(3)Professor and staff research associate, respectively, Department of Entomological Sciences, University of California, Berkeley 94720. Phytopathology 72:1145-1148. Accepted for publication 6 October 1981. Copyright 1982 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-72-1145.

The median latent period (LP₅₀) for the transmission of a virus by an insect vector can be estimated by a log-probit analysis of serial transmission data. This approach assumes acquisition at a given instant during the acquisition access period (AAP), rather than distributed over the total AAP. A model is proposed that uses data from a two-plant readout system. The inoculation access period on the first plant is varied, and on the final plant, it is long enough to have a high probability of including any latent period. The data obtained can be used to estimate the acquisition rate, a minimum latent period, the LP₅₀, and (where applicable) other variable phases of the transmission process (eg, the time of inoculation, if such does not occur rapidly). The method is evaluated by using data on the transmission of the pea enation mosaic virus to and from sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, by the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. The results suggest existence of a minimum latent period and that the LP₅₀ is dosage sensitive.