- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Jacobson's seminar is titled "Investigating Factors Underlying Thrips-Topovirus Interactions: the Importance of Thrips Genetic Variation in the Transmission of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus by Thrips tabaci and Its Relevance to Other Tospovirus Vectors."
Host is Diane Ullman, associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Jacobson's abstract:
"Thrips tabaci (onion thrips) is a major agricultural pest worldwide, causing direct damage on many vegetable and field crops. It is also a vector of two plant-infecting Tospoviruses: Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) for which it is the primary vector, and Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) for which its role as a vector varies geographically. In the U.S. T. tabaci has generally been disregarded as an important vector of TSWV due to its localized importance as a vector worldwide and its inconsistent presence in crops where TSWV is a major problem. However, the vector competence of T. tabaci in the U.S. had not been formally investigated. In this study populations of T. tabaci from multiple locations in NC were tested for their ability to transmit TSWV isolates collected at each of the locations. In addition, population-level differences underlying observed variation in transmission efficiency were investigated using mtCOI and microsatellite markers. Together, the results of these studies demonstrate that specific vector-virus interactions underlie variation in transmission of TSWV by T. tabaci, and that population-level variation in vector competency is an important factor contributing to the differences in the status of this cosmopolitan species as a vector of TSWV. The genetic variation within onion thrips revealed in this work highlights the need to better understand the species- and population-level variation that exists in this species throughout its geographic range in relation to vector competency and other economically important traits, including insecticide resistance and host plant use. They also have important implications for the study of other thrips vectors of tospoviruses whose populations have been reported to exhibit varying degrees of genetic variation."
She received her bachelor of science degree in agricultural biology from New Mexico State University; her master's degree in entomology at Purdue University investigating insecticide resistance in the corn earworm under the direction of Rick Foster; and her doctorate at NC State University working under the direction of George Kennedy researching onion thrips' role in the epidemiology of a Tomato spotted wilt virus in North Carolina.
Upon completion of her doctorate, Jacobson was awarded a USDA/NIFA Postdoctoral Fellow position to investigate population genetic structuring in New York onion production regions in relation to geographic distance, reproductive mode and insecticide resistance traits.
In the future. she looks forward to entering a career teaching, and conducting research to solve contemporary pest management problems.