Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it>
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Costs of adaptation play an important role in host-parasite coevolution. For parasites, evolving the ability to circumvent host resistance may trade off with subsequent growth or transmission. Such costs of virulence (<it>sensu...
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| Format: | Article |
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BMC
2009-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/26 |
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| author | Leconte Marc Kaltz Oliver Bahri Bochra de Vallavieille-Pope Claude Enjalbert Jérôme |
| author_facet | Leconte Marc Kaltz Oliver Bahri Bochra de Vallavieille-Pope Claude Enjalbert Jérôme |
| author_sort | Leconte Marc |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Costs of adaptation play an important role in host-parasite coevolution. For parasites, evolving the ability to circumvent host resistance may trade off with subsequent growth or transmission. Such costs of virulence (<it>sensu </it>plant pathology) limit the spread of all-infectious genotypes and thus facilitate the maintenance of genetic polymorphism in both host and parasite. We investigated costs of three virulence factors in <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it>, a fungal pathogen of wheat (<it>Triticum aestivum</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In pairwise competition experiments, we compared the fitness of near-isogenic genotypes that differed by a single virulence factor. Two virulence factors (<it>vir4</it>, <it>vir6</it>) imposed substantial fitness costs in the absence of the corresponding resistance genes. In contrast, the <it>vir9 </it>virulence factor conferred a strong competitive advantage to several isolates, and this for different host cultivars and growing seasons. In part, the experimentally derived fitness costs and benefits are consistent with frequency changes of these virulence factors in the French pathogen population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results illustrate the variation in the evolutionary trajectories of virulence mutations and the potential role of compensatory mutations. Anticipation of such variable evolutionary outcomes represents a major challenge for plant breeding strategies. More generally, we believe that agro-patho-systems can provide valuable insight in (co)evolutionary processes in host-parasite systems.</p> |
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c000e55ab8e54c1ea7ae96739d4b55d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T16:45:24Z |
| publishDate | 2009-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c000e55ab8e54c1ea7ae96739d4b55d92022-12-21T20:13:40ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482009-01-01912610.1186/1471-2148-9-26Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it>Leconte MarcKaltz OliverBahri Bochrade Vallavieille-Pope ClaudeEnjalbert Jérôme<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Costs of adaptation play an important role in host-parasite coevolution. For parasites, evolving the ability to circumvent host resistance may trade off with subsequent growth or transmission. Such costs of virulence (<it>sensu </it>plant pathology) limit the spread of all-infectious genotypes and thus facilitate the maintenance of genetic polymorphism in both host and parasite. We investigated costs of three virulence factors in <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it>, a fungal pathogen of wheat (<it>Triticum aestivum</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In pairwise competition experiments, we compared the fitness of near-isogenic genotypes that differed by a single virulence factor. Two virulence factors (<it>vir4</it>, <it>vir6</it>) imposed substantial fitness costs in the absence of the corresponding resistance genes. In contrast, the <it>vir9 </it>virulence factor conferred a strong competitive advantage to several isolates, and this for different host cultivars and growing seasons. In part, the experimentally derived fitness costs and benefits are consistent with frequency changes of these virulence factors in the French pathogen population.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results illustrate the variation in the evolutionary trajectories of virulence mutations and the potential role of compensatory mutations. Anticipation of such variable evolutionary outcomes represents a major challenge for plant breeding strategies. More generally, we believe that agro-patho-systems can provide valuable insight in (co)evolutionary processes in host-parasite systems.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/26 |
| spellingShingle | Leconte Marc Kaltz Oliver Bahri Bochra de Vallavieille-Pope Claude Enjalbert Jérôme Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| title | Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> |
| title_full | Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> |
| title_fullStr | Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> |
| title_short | Tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen, <it>Puccinia striiformis </it>f.sp.<it>tritici</it> |
| title_sort | tracking costs of virulence in natural populations of the wheat pathogen it puccinia striiformis it f sp it tritici it |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/26 |
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