DISRUPTING PATHOGEN VECTORING BY THE SQUASH BUG ANASA TRISTIS WITH BACTERIAL SYMBIONTS

The major goals of this proposal are to test the potential of a squash bug associated symbiont to interrupt disease transmission at the individual level and to model whether this effect can impact disease outcomes at the field level in order to determine the feasibility of field trials.Goal 1: Determine the influence of A. tristis life-stage and symbiont status on pathogen transmission.Objective 1.1: Determine the probability of successful pathogen transmission at each life stage of the squash bugObjective 1.2: Compare probability of pathogen transmission between symbiont positive and symbiont negative squash bugsGoal 2: Use mathematical models to determine the feasibility and efficacy of symbiont-mediated vector control for mitigating the spread of CYVDObjective 2.1: Develop, parameterize, and test a parsimonious theoretical model to assess the impact of symbionts on pathogen transmissionObjective 2.2: Run simulations to determine which parameters have the most impact on pathogen transmission