Phylogenetic signal in plant pathogen-host range

What determines which plant species are susceptible to a given plant pathogen is poorly understood. Experimental inoculations with fungal pathogens of plant leaves in a tropical rain forest show that most fungal pathogens are polyphagous but that most plant species in a local community are resistant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-03, Vol.104 (12), p.4979-4983
Main Authors: Gilbert, Gregory S, Webb, Campbell O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological Sciences
Biological taxonomies
contact-process model
cost benefit analysis
crops
disease control
disease incidence
disease prevalence
epidemiological studies
epidemiology
Flowers & plants
foliar diseases
forest trees
fungal diseases of plants
Fungi - physiology
Host range
Host-Parasite Interactions
host-pathogen relationships
Inoculation
leaves
mathematical models
Pathogens
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Plant Diseases - microbiology
plant diseases and disorders
Plant ecology
Plant Leaves - microbiology
plant pathogenic fungi
Plant pathogens
Plant pathology
Plant taxonomy
Plants
Rainforests
Species diversity
tree diseases
Trees - microbiology
Tropical forests
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Summary:What determines which plant species are susceptible to a given plant pathogen is poorly understood. Experimental inoculations with fungal pathogens of plant leaves in a tropical rain forest show that most fungal pathogens are polyphagous but that most plant species in a local community are resistant to any given pathogen. The likelihood that a pathogen can infect two plant species decreases continuously with phylogenetic distance between the plants, even to ancient evolutionary distances. This phylogenetic signal in host range allows us to predict the likely host range of plant pathogens in a local community, providing an important tool for plant ecology, design of agronomic systems, quarantine regulations in international trade, and risk analysis of biological control agents. In particular, the results suggest that the rate of spread and ecological impacts of a disease through a natural plant community will depend strongly on the phylogenetic structure of the community itself and that current regulatory approaches strongly underestimate the local risks of global movement of plant pathogens or their hosts.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0607968104