Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25540154›Full record

ArticleBiology letters2014

Baculovirus infection triggers a positive phototactic response in caterpillars to induce 'tree-top' disease.

Stineke van Houte, Monique M van Oers, Yue Han, Just M Vlak, Vera I D Ros

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biology letters, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The sensory ecology of caterpillars.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026
    Review
  2. Baculoviruses hijack host midgut-derived tachykinin to regulate phototactic climbing behavior and promote viral transmission.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  16. Expression of trematode-induced zombie-ant behavior is strongly associated with temperature.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Stineke van HouteLaboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands vanhoute.stineke@gmail.com.
Monique M van OersLaboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Yue HanLaboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Just M VlakLaboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Vera I D RosLaboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Wageningen University & Research · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many parasites manipulate host behaviour to enhance parasite transmission and survival. A fascinating example is baculoviruses, which often induce death in caterpillar hosts at elevated positions ('tree-top' disease). To date, little is known about the underlying processes leading to this adaptive host manipulation. Here, we show that the baculovirus Spodoptera exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SeMNPV) triggers a positive phototactic response in S. exigua larvae prior to death and causes the caterpillars to die at elevated positions. This light-dependent climbing behaviour is specific for infected larvae, as movement of uninfected caterpillars during larval development was light-independent. We hypothesize that upon infection, SeMNPV captures a host pathway involved in phototaxis and/or light perception to induce this remarkable behavioural change.

Indexed as

LightAnimalsBaculoviridaeLepidopteraVirus Diseasesbaculovirusbehavioural manipulationcaterpillarsparasitic manipulationphototaxistree-top disease

Identifiers

PMID25540154
PMCPMC4298182
OpenAlexW2088388741

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.