The Curious Case of the Bumblebee, the Virus and the Tomato - what's the best electric toothbrush

Cucumber mosaic virus infected nearly 1,200 plants and spread more than 75 beneficial bacteria.
In tomatoes, the virus causes poor growth, decreased fertility, few fruits, small, mottled, and sometimes rotten.
The virus is clearly not a friend for farmers, but a surprising new study suggests that the virus may not be completely harmful to the plants it infects.
This is because bumblebees are more attracted to tomato plants infected with giant viruses.
Although tomato plants can be self-
Pollination, when bumblebees do their dirty work, they produce more seeds.
Simon Nelson Gerron, a post
A PhD student at New York University, the lead author of this new study published today in the journal Pathogens of the Public Library of Science, likened the relationship to a doctor's storyJekyll and Mr. Hyde.
In other words, the more we know about viruses, the more we can see the benefits and disadvantages they can bring to the host.
The findings require us to change how we view the relationship between plants, pollinators and viruses, Groen said.
Unlike most flowers, tomato plants do not provide pollen freely to any old Bee or butterfly passing.
They release it only after intense stimulation, such as the one that bumblebees produce by rapidly bending their flying muscles.
Mario Vallejo said that the vibrations generated by bees can have hundreds of cycles per second.
Marin, National Geographic Explorer, an evolutionary biologist at Stirling University, England.
This is what it is called-
It is believed that only 8% of plant species will use it. Vallejo-
Marin even found that bumblebees can adjust the frequency of their buzzing to maximize the amount of pollen they get to get energy.
The interaction between bees and tomato plants is so special that it is difficult for scientists to recreate it in the laboratory.
For example, the team of groen team used an electric toothbrush nicknamed "mouth Bee", but the plants visited by the pollinators in real life still did not undergo manual replacement. Buzz-
Pollination helps tomato plants reduce pollen usage because good pollen is wasted every time a deer brush past or a strong wind blows past.
But it also limits the number of species that can help plants breed.
The tomato is attacked by the cucumber, and the tomato leaves are distorted.
That's why plants seem to have evolved a way to promote themselves to bees.
In the air, scientists do a lot of work trying to understand how bees view the world around them, but these creatures can also sniff with the best bees.
For a bumblebee, the tomato plant must taste as amazing as the hot apple pie on the windowsill.
What's more interesting is Groen and his colleagues.
The authors found that for some reason, bumblebees like the smell of giant viruses
More plants infected with tomatoes.
After a series of tests, they determined that the virus could alter the volatile properties of plants, or that plants emit chemicals that attract bees into the air.
Considering this
Infected tomatoes are more attractive to bear bees, while tomato plants that are pollinated by bear bees produce more seeds, groen and his co-authors believe, this arrangement may affect the tomato plant population more susceptible to the disease. (
But fortunately, these seeds do not carry viruses. )
In other words, the wheels are turning all the time.
The result of the real world is this, but there is another species in this legend that likes to eat salsa and pasta.
When asked if this information could mitigate some of the losses seen from the giant virus in commercial farming, Edward Secola, a plant pathologist at Auburn University, said that it might not.
Tomato farmers are interested in increasing the yield and quality of the fruit, not the seeds.
It can be difficult to get infected when this virus is infected.
Sikora noted that an outbreak broke out in Alabama in 1992.
In the state's 25%-square-meter tomato fields, giant viruses have wreaked havoc, destroying hundreds of acres of fruit.
The affected counties lost everything.
By the way, once a virus is infected with a plant, there is no way to stop the virus, so prevention is the best defense for the giant on the farm.
This can include cleaning up fields and nearby areas of weeds that can serve as reservoirs for viruses, and can also grow barrier crops such as corn that are not susceptible to Juhua.
Bringing bumblebees into these infected fields may not take any measures to mitigate these losses, Sikora said.
Even if fertility levels improve, the plant will still be dominated by viruses.
But there is a possible way to apply it.
Now that scientists have identified how the virus changes the smell of tomato plants, Groen says we may be able to use the virus to create crops that are more attractive to pollinators, so in the long run, more efficient.
In any case, we think all viruses are harmful, which seems to make it impossible for us to understand exactly what is going on outside.
In fact, it may be time to remove black and white terms when talking about viruses, such as "good" and "bad"
The relationship, Groen said.
A more accurate description will be complex.
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