Diverse mechanisms shape the evolution of virulence factors in the potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans sampled from China

• Published in: Scientific reports 2016-05, Vol.6 (1), p.26182, Article 26182
• Main Authors: Wu, E-Jiao, Yang, Li-Na, Zhu, Wen, Chen, Xiao-Mei, Shang, Li-Ping, Zhan, Jiasui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 38/77; 631/181/2481; 631/181/457/649; China; Climate; Climate change; Climatic conditions; Cultivars; Disease resistance; Environmental Exposure; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Genotypes; Global warming; Host selection; Humanities and Social Sciences; Late blight; multidisciplinary; Natural selection; Pathogens; Phytophthora infestans - genetics; Phytophthora infestans - pathogenicity; Plant diseases; Plant Diseases - microbiology; Plant resistance; Science; Selection, Genetic; Solanum tuberosum - microbiology; Spatial Analysis; Temperature; Temperature effects; Virulence; Virulence factors; Virulence Factors - genetics
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep26182

Evolution of virulence in plant pathogens is still poorly understood but the knowledge is important for the effective use of plant resistance and sustainable disease management. Spatial population dynamics of virulence, race and SSR markers in 140 genotypes sampled from seven geographic locations in China were compared to infer the mechanisms driving the evolution of virulence in Phytophthora infestans ( P. infestans ). All virulence types and a full spectrum of race complexity, ranging from the race able to infect the universally susceptible cultivar only to all differentials, were detected. Eight and two virulence factors were under diversifying and constraining selection respectively while no natural selection was detected in one of the virulence types. Further analyses revealed excesses in simple and complex races but deficiency in intermediate race and negative associations of annual mean temperature at the site from which pathogen isolates were collected with frequency of virulence to differentials and race complexity in the pathogen populations. These results suggest that host selection may interact with other factors such as climatic conditions in determining the evolutionary trajectory of virulence and race structure in P. infestans and global warming may slow down the emergence of new virulence in the pathogen.