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Food security is of growing concern amidst global geopolitical events, the climate crisis and biodiversity challenges. Additionally plant diseases, including plant viruses, pose a major threat.

One �鶹Ů�� student has been modelling plant virus transmission with aphids as the vector. Elin Falla (Plant Sciences PhD 2021) has published a paper , in PLOS Computational Biology, which outlines how crucial aphid behaviour is to virus transmission.

“I look at specifically a class of virus called non-persistently transmitted viruses,” Elin says. “They are a class of virus with a very fast mode of transmission. They're almost exclusively transmitted between plants by aphids, hence the focus on aphids. They account for about 40% of all plant viruses, a very large proportion, but they're understudied.”

Viruses with this mode of transmission depend on aphid feeding behaviour, which Elin explains. 

She adds: “An aphid initially probes the plant to get a brief taste. It will then either stay for a prolonged feed, which can be hours or days, or it will fly off to a new plant. During the brief probe is when the plant virus can be passed between plant and aphid. If an aphid picks up the virus from an infected plant during the probe, but then decides to feed, the aphid will not retain the virus. The virus is only held in the aphid’s mouth parts; if stays to feed, the virus gets washed out, and the aphid will not transmit the virus to other plants. It’s quite a crucial aspect of transmission, but a lot of models overlook it.”

By modelling more realistically, Elin’s work shows the necessity of focusing on the biological basis when carrying out computational modelling.

She adds: “Within this field there's a lot of maths going on and this theoretical work is really important. I think it's also important to focus on the biology.”

Elin is now investigating the viability of protecting plants – in these cases crops – from virus transmission, by planting aphid-attractive, virus-resistant plants on the edges of fields.

Elin was an undergraduate student in Natural Sciences (Biological) at Queens’ College, Cambridge, matriculating in 2016, and undertook a Masters at Imperial before returning to Cambridge for her PhD. She is supervised by , who, by coincidence, also oversaw her undergraduate project.

Keen to expand upon her paper Why aphid virus retention needs more attention within her PhD, if time, Elin may also explore how temperature affects distribution of aphids and their sensitivity to climate. She is considering academia and AgriTech as future career options.

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