Cited research Ecol. Lett. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01513.x (2010)

Many pathogens reside in 'reservoir' hosts before breaking out and causing infections. Predicting which hosts make good reservoirs could aid disease control. James Cronin and his team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill propose that certain physiological traits can indicate whether a potential host will be a good reservoir — namely short-lived tissue with high nutrient levels, a high metabolic rate and poor defence mechanisms.

The authors tested their predictions on six wild grass species and the pathogen barley yellow dwarf virus, which is transmitted by aphids. They found that the probability of the virus being transmitted between the grass and the aphids and a grass's ability to support a large aphid population are mainly affected by these physiological traits.