A genome-wide association study identifies Arabidopsis thaliana genes that contribute to differences in the outcome of infection with two Turnip mosaic potyvirus strains that differ in their evolutionary history and degree of host specialization
Viruses lie in a continuum between generalism and specialism depending on their ability to infect more or less hosts. While generalists are able to successfully infect a wide variety of hosts, specialists are limited to one or a few. Even though generalists seem to gain an advantage due to their wide host range, they usually pay a pleiotropic fitness cost within each host. On the contrary, a specialist has maximal fitness within its own host. A relevant yet poorly explored question is whether viruses differ in the way they interact with their hosts’ gene expression depending on their degree of specialization. Using a genome-wide association study approach, we have identified host genes whos…
Arabidopsis thalianagenes contributing to differences in the outcome of infection with generalist and specialist strains ofTurnip mosaic virusidentified by genome-wide association studies
AbstractPathogens can be classified as generalists or specialists depending on their host breadth. While generalists are able to successfully infect a wide variety of host species, the host range of specialists is limited to a few related species. Even though generalists seem to gain an advantage due to their wide host range, they usually pay a cost in terms of fitness within each host species (i.e., the jack-of-all trades, master of none). On the contrary, specialists have high fitness within their own host. A highly relevant yet poorly explored question is whether generalist and specialist viruses differ in the way they interact with their host’s gene expression networks. To identify host…