2025 Hyper Recent •CC0 1.0 Universal

This work is dedicated to the public domain. No rights reserved.

Access Preprint From Server
May 9th, 2025
Version: 1
New York University
evolutionary biology
biorxiv

Evolutionary implications of plant host interactions with a generalist pathogen

Maerkle, H.Open in Google Scholar•Bergelson, J.Open in Google Scholar

It is widely believed that eco-evolutionary feedbacks arising from host-pathogen interactions shape the number and frequency of resistance (R) genotypes and the allelic polymorphism that they harbor. A subset of R genes exhibit unusually strong signatures of balancing selection, sometimes even existing as trans-specific polymorphism. Here, we explore the role of alternative hosts on R gene evolution through a simple model of two closely related host species that share a single generalist pathogen. We ask (i) how shared interactions determine the R gene repertoires and polymorphism in each host and (ii) under which circumstances trans-specific polymorphism is maintained. Our results indicate that interactions with a generalist pathogen are more likely to sustain polymorphism at a shared ancestral R gene compared to the maintenance of polymorphism at R genes private to each host. The former often translates into trans-specific resistance gene polymorphism. Further, we observe that increasing the relative proportion of a single host species favors fixation of private resistance in the less common host, as the pathogen tracks the more common host. Thus, our model sheds light on how R gene dynamics are shaped by interactions with a shared generalist pathogen and the pathogen\'s response to unequal host frequencies.

Similar Papers

biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Lineage-Specific Evolution, Structural Diversity, and Activity of R2 Retrotransposons in Animals
Retrotransposons play outsized roles in the evolution of gene regulation, genome function, and disease pathogenesis and more recently, have sparked interest as workhorses for new gene therapy approaches. R2 retrotransposons insert site-specifically to the multicopy genes encoding 28S ribosomal RNA at a target sequence conserved broadly across eukaryotic evolution. R2 retrotransposons have been det...
Hassan, N. T.
•
Van Treeck, B.
•
Rodriguez-Vargas, A.
•
Sheppard, A. E.
...•
Collins, K.
biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Hatcheries to high seas: climate change connections to salmon marine survival
We investigated variations in the marine survival of Japanese hatchery chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) during 25 years of climate change (1998-2023). Japan is the world largest producer of hatchery salmon, and is located near the global southern distribution limit of chum salmon. Our goal was to identify local and context-specific metrics related to the observed coastwide decline in salmon marine ...
Kitada, S.
•
Myers, K. W.
•
Kishino, H.
biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Resource distribution unifies optimal offspring size and bacterial aging
Models of optimal offspring size and bacterial aging share the same underlying mathematical problem: how should a parent optimally distribute limited resources among its offspring? Optimal offspring size theory has long explored the trade-off between offspring number and size in higher organisms. Meanwhile, the emerging field of bacterial aging examines whether and under what conditions cells evol...
Sakal, T.
•
Proulx, S. R.
biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Conserved and lineage-restricted gene regulatory programs modulate developmental cnidocyte specification in Nematostella vectensis.
Abstract: Cnidocytes are a synapomorphy of cnidarians that have evolved a range of morphologies and functions within and across extant species, which makes them an excellent model to investigate how novel cell types emerge and radiate in evolution. One way to gain insight into how cell types evolve is to investigate the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that pattern them, leading to the identificati...
Danladi, B.
•
Al-Shaer, L.
•
Havrilak, J. A.
•
Faltine-Gonzalez, D. Z.
...•
Layden, M. J.
biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Genetically diverse populations hold the keys to climatic adaptation: a lesson from a cosmopolitan raptor
Although local adaptation influences species distributions, its role in driving evolutionary resilience under climate change remains unclear. Current predictive models focus on genetic adaptation to present climates, providing limited insight into future adaptive capacity. We hypothesise that historical responses to climatic shifts can reveal future adaptive potential. Combining ecological niche m...
Corval, H.
•
Cumer, T.
•
Topaloudis, A.
•
Collart, F.
...•
Goudet, J.
biorxiv
Fri May 09 2025
Novel artificial selection method improves function of simulated microbial communities
There is increasing interest in artificially selecting or breeding microbial communities, but experiments have reported modest success. Here, we develop computational models to simulate two previously known selection methods and compare them to a new ``disassembly'' method. We evaluate all three methods in their ability to find a community that could efficiently degrade toxins, whereby investment ...
Vessman, B.
•
Guridi-Fernandez, P.
•
Arias-Sanchez, F. I.
•
Mitri, S.
biorxiv
Thu May 08 2025
Performance evaluation of adaptive introgression classification methods
Introgression, the incorporation of foreign variants through hybridization and repeated backcross, is increasingly being studied for its potential evolutionary consequences, one of which is adaptive introgression (AI). In recent years, several statistical methods have been proposed for the detection of loci that have undergone adaptive introgression. Most of these methods have been tested and deve...
Romieu, J.
•
Camarata, G.
•
Crochet, P.-A.
•
de Navascues, M.
...•
Rousset, F.
biorxiv
Thu May 08 2025
No evidence for disassortative mating based on HLA genotype in a natural fertility population
Evidence for disassortative mating based on the human-specific MHC, i.e. HLA, is equivocal1. Initial evidence for disassortative HLA-pairing in the European-descent Hutterites2 has tended not to replicate in other populations. Recent studies, rather, reflect assortative mating associated with cosmopolitan population structure1. Although their configuration is more relevant to the majority of human...
Meeks, G. L.
•
Scelza, B.
•
Kichula, K. M.
•
Berevoescu, C.
...•
Henn, B. M.
biorxiv
Thu May 08 2025
Adaptive peak tracking as explanation of sparse fossil data across fluctuating ancient environments
Species that have existed over millions of years have done so because they have been able to track peaks in an adaptive landscape well enough to survive and reproduce. Such optima are defined by the mean phenotypic values that maximize mean fitness, and they are predominantly functions of the environment, for example the sea temperature. The mean phenotypic values over time will thus predominantly...
Ergon, R.