Application of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify host targets of viral adaptation

2021

Viruses are the most abundant entities on Earth and have a great capacity for evolution and adaptation. Some viruses are able to infect a wide range of hosts causing damage in a number of important plants while others infect one host species really well and cause severe detrimental symptoms in a short time span. With time viruses can adapt well to novel hosts and increase their infectivity, virulence and therefore provoke more damage to the host. Yet we still lack knowledge about how plants respond to viral infection with viruses that have different adaptation histories or host ranges, or how viruses that are differently adapted to the host respond to distinct environmental challenges. This…