Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen
Abstract Genetic diversity within pathogen populations is critically important for predicting pathogen evolution, disease outcomes and prevalence. However, we lack a good understanding of the processes maintaining genetic variation and constraints on pathogen life‐history evolution. Here, we analyse...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13117 |
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doaj-adc587e3efb343769975fd0930f8d1d72021-02-20T16:47:35ZengWileyEvolutionary Applications1752-45712021-02-0114233534710.1111/eva.13117Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogenAnik Dutta0Daniel Croll1Bruce A. McDonald2Luke G. Barrett3Plant Pathology Institute of Integrative Biology ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandLaboratory of Evolutionary Genetics Institute of Biology University of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel SwitzerlandPlant Pathology Institute of Integrative Biology ETH Zurich Zurich SwitzerlandCSIRO Agriculture and Food Canberra ACT AustraliaAbstract Genetic diversity within pathogen populations is critically important for predicting pathogen evolution, disease outcomes and prevalence. However, we lack a good understanding of the processes maintaining genetic variation and constraints on pathogen life‐history evolution. Here, we analysed interactions between 12 wheat host genotypes and 145 strains of Zymoseptoria tritici from five global populations to investigate the evolution and maintenance of variation in pathogen virulence and reproduction. We found a strong positive correlation between virulence (amount of leaf necrosis) and reproduction (pycnidia density within lesions), with substantial variation in both traits maintained within populations. On average, highly virulent isolates exhibited higher reproduction, which might increase transmission potential in agricultural fields planted to homogeneous hosts at a high density. We further showed that pathogen strains with a narrow host range (i.e. specialists) for reproduction were on average less virulent, and those with a broader host range (i.e. generalists) were on average less fecund on a given specific host. These costs associated with adaptation to different host genotypes might constrain the emergence of generalists by disrupting the directional evolution of virulence and fecundity. We conclude that selection favouring pathogen strains that are virulent across diverse hosts, coupled with selection that maximizes fecundity on specific hosts, may explain the maintenance of these pathogenicity traits within and among populations.https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13117host specializationreproductiontrade‐offvirulencewheatZymoseptoria tritici |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Anik Dutta Daniel Croll Bruce A. McDonald Luke G. Barrett |
spellingShingle |
Anik Dutta Daniel Croll Bruce A. McDonald Luke G. Barrett Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen Evolutionary Applications host specialization reproduction trade‐off virulence wheat Zymoseptoria tritici |
author_facet |
Anik Dutta Daniel Croll Bruce A. McDonald Luke G. Barrett |
author_sort |
Anik Dutta |
title |
Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
title_short |
Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
title_full |
Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
title_fullStr |
Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
title_full_unstemmed |
Maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
title_sort |
maintenance of variation in virulence and reproduction in populations of an agricultural plant pathogen |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Evolutionary Applications |
issn |
1752-4571 |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
Abstract Genetic diversity within pathogen populations is critically important for predicting pathogen evolution, disease outcomes and prevalence. However, we lack a good understanding of the processes maintaining genetic variation and constraints on pathogen life‐history evolution. Here, we analysed interactions between 12 wheat host genotypes and 145 strains of Zymoseptoria tritici from five global populations to investigate the evolution and maintenance of variation in pathogen virulence and reproduction. We found a strong positive correlation between virulence (amount of leaf necrosis) and reproduction (pycnidia density within lesions), with substantial variation in both traits maintained within populations. On average, highly virulent isolates exhibited higher reproduction, which might increase transmission potential in agricultural fields planted to homogeneous hosts at a high density. We further showed that pathogen strains with a narrow host range (i.e. specialists) for reproduction were on average less virulent, and those with a broader host range (i.e. generalists) were on average less fecund on a given specific host. These costs associated with adaptation to different host genotypes might constrain the emergence of generalists by disrupting the directional evolution of virulence and fecundity. We conclude that selection favouring pathogen strains that are virulent across diverse hosts, coupled with selection that maximizes fecundity on specific hosts, may explain the maintenance of these pathogenicity traits within and among populations. |
topic |
host specialization reproduction trade‐off virulence wheat Zymoseptoria tritici |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13117 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT anikdutta maintenanceofvariationinvirulenceandreproductioninpopulationsofanagriculturalplantpathogen AT danielcroll maintenanceofvariationinvirulenceandreproductioninpopulationsofanagriculturalplantpathogen AT bruceamcdonald maintenanceofvariationinvirulenceandreproductioninpopulationsofanagriculturalplantpathogen AT lukegbarrett maintenanceofvariationinvirulenceandreproductioninpopulationsofanagriculturalplantpathogen |
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