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Descripción
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| Virus emergence is a complex process determined by both ecological and evolutionary factors. Ecosystem simplification at the interface between wild and agricultural ecosystems has been proposed to favour plant virus emergence (see Figure). However, a conductive environment does not suffice for virus emergence and, after initial infection, the virus must adapt to the new host. We test these hypothesis by the analysis of virus-plant interactions in a series of habitats ranging from wild ecosystems to intensive horticultural systems, in which we address three major questions: i) what ecological factors in wild and cultivated plant populations determine virus emergence?, ii) how do virulence and defence factors evolve? and iii) is adaptation to a new host associated with fitness penalties in the original host? Firstly, we compared the prevalence, spatial genetic structure, and temporal dynamics of virus infection in populations of the wild pepper Capsicum annuum glabriusculum (chiltepin) that are under different levels of human management: from wild habitats to incipient cultivation. Virus prevalence increased with human management, habitat biodiversity being the main ecological factor associated with infection risk. Interestingly, virulence also increased with habitat management. Habitat heterogeneity also shaped the genetic structure of chiltepin-infecting viruses and of the host plant, in such a way that it may favour emergence. Secondly, because adaptation to a new host may be hindered by across-host fitness trade-offs, we analysed such trade-offs in viruses infecting domestic pepper. We found that adaptation to new pepper cultivars resulted in fitness loss in the original one, which could be explained by pleiotropic effects of mutations involved in host adaptation. Unexpectedly, we found that across host trade-offs could be generated by mutational effects on fitness components that were not related to the virus-plant interaction. | |
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Internacional
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Si |
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ISSN o ISBN
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00-000-00 |
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Entidad relacionada
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Colorado State University |
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Nacionalidad Entidad
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E.E.U.U. DE AMERICA |
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Lugar del congreso
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Fort Collins, Colorado, USA |