Predicting disease risk from community context and host phenotype: A trait-based approach

从社区背景和宿主表型预测疾病风险：基于性状的方法

• 批准号: 0923671
• 负责人: Charles Mitchell
• 金额: $ 67.5万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0923671&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Predicting; disease; risk; community; context

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project will test whether an individual's risk of acquiring an infectious disease is determined by a handful of easily measured ecological traits of the host individual (i.e., host phenotype), and of other host species that are potential sources of infection (community context). Experiments will be conducted using a model system for multi-host vector-borne pathogens: barley yellow dwarf viruses, aphid (insect) vectors that transmit them, and 20 wild grass host species. First, greenhouse experiments will quantify the phenotypes of these grass species at low and high nitrogen (nutrient) availability. Phenotypes will be quantified based on a suite of physiological traits including rate of photosynthesis, concentration of nutrients in leaves, leaf growth rate, and leaf lifespan. Hosts with high nutrient concentrations are expected to also have high metabolic rates (comprising quick-return or QR phenotypes) while hosts with low nutrient concentrations will have low metabolic rates (slow-return or SR phenotypes). Greenhouse experiments will also test whether QR phenotypes are more heavily fed upon by aphids, are more susceptible to infection by feeding aphids, and are better able to withstand the negative impacts of infection than SR phenotypes. Field experiments will test whether QR phenotypes experience greater risk than SR phenotypes of disease transmission from other host species, and whether that risk depends on community context. The field experiments will test whether increased nutrient availability, a major result of human activities, alters disease risk. Predicting risk of disease is a critical ecological, agricultural, and public health goal. Of particular concern are vector-borne diseases that infect multiple host species. For example, West Nile virus is transmitted to humans (hosts) chiefly by mosquitoes (vectors) that fed on infected birds (hosts). Similarly, most pathogens of crops also infect wild plant host species. Understanding sources of risk will improve management of diseases in wild and domestic plants and animals, as well as humans. This project will involve both undergraduate and graduate students, and results will be communicated to citizens ranging from local high school students to public health professionals.

该奖项是根据2009年的《美国复苏和再投资法》（公法111-5）资助的。本项目将测试个人获得感染疾病的风险是否取决于少数容易测量的宿主个人（即宿主表型）以及其他潜在宿主物种（社区背景）（社区环境）的少数易于测量的生态特征（即宿主表型）。 实验将使用用于多主载体传播病原体的模型系统进行：大麦黄矮人病毒，传播它们的蚜虫（昆虫）载体以及20种野草宿主物种。 首先，温室实验将在低氮（营养）可用性下量化这些草种的表型。 将根据一系列生理特征来量化表型，包括光合作用速率，叶片中的养分浓度，叶片生长速率和叶片寿命。 养分浓度较高的宿主预计还具有高代谢率（包括快速返回或QR表型），而营养浓度较低的宿主将其代谢率低（慢返回或SR表型）。 温室实验还将测试QR表型是否由蚜虫更严重，通过喂食蚜虫更容易受到感染，并且比SR表型更好地能够承受感染的负面影响。 现场实验将测试QR表型是否比来自其他宿主物种的疾病传播的SR表型的风险更大，以及这种风险是否取决于社区环境。 现场实验将测试增加养分的可用性是否是人类活动的主要结果，改变疾病风险。 预测疾病的风险是一个关键的生态，农业和公共卫生目标。 特别关注的是感染多种宿主物种的媒介传播疾病。 例如，西尼罗河病毒主要是由喂食受感染鸟类（宿主）的蚊子（载体）传播给人类（寄主）的。同样，大多数农作物还感染了野生植物宿主物种。 了解风险的来源将改善野生动植物和动物以及人类疾病的管理。 该项目将涉及本科生和研究生，并将结果传达给从当地高中生到公共卫生专业人员的公民。