Predicting pathogens’ virulence: linking host breadth and pathogenicity of the Botryosphaeriaceae fungal family in wine grapes (Vitis vinifera)
Citation
Silva-Valderrama, I., Silva, O., Boulé, J., Úrbez-Torres, J.R., and Davies, T.J. 2022. Predicting pathogens’ virulence: linking host breadth and pathogenicity of the Botryosphaeriaceae fungal family in wine grapes (Vitis vinifera). Phytopathologia Mediterranea 16:336.
Résumé en langage clair
Plant diseases can have important negative effects on crops and human food sources. Previous research has
linked host plant diversity and pathogen emergence, illustrating important connections with phylogeny of
plant hosts. However, the importance of the pathogen phylogeny in shaping pathogen-host associations has
been under-explored, yet this may be useful for describing pathogens likely to shift to novel hosts, and to predict
potential for disease emergence following host jumps. The phylogenetic signals in host use is described
for Botryosphaeriaceae, a widely distributed family that infects most woody perennial plants. The links between
host diversity, phylogenetic relatedness, and pathogen virulence are outlined. The phylogeny of Botryosphaeriaceae spp. infecting grapevines (Vitis vinifera) was reconstructed, and whether closely related pathogens infect similar host species was examined. Virulence of the Botryosphaeriaceae known to infect V. vinifera was quantified using a high-throughput detached cane assay. A machine learning algorithm was trained to differentiate between asymptomatic and necrotic tissues, and lesion size was quantified as a proxy for virulence. The relationship between host diversity and lesion size was then modelled. Preliminary results show large differences in host diversity within the Botryosphaeriaceae, and a positive relationship between the phylogenetic host diversity and pathogen virulence in V. vinifera. This research provides a first step towards predicting virulence of a known pathogen on a novel host following a host jump. This approach could be used for coordinated global monitoring of high-risk species within Botryosphaeriaceae.
Résumé
Plant diseases can have important negative effects on crops and human food sources. Previous research has
linked host plant diversity and pathogen emergence, illustrating important connections with phylogeny of
plant hosts. However, the importance of the pathogen phylogeny in shaping pathogen-host associations has
been under-explored, yet this may be useful for describing pathogens likely to shift to novel hosts, and to predict
potential for disease emergence following host jumps. The phylogenetic signals in host use is described
for Botryosphaeriaceae, a widely distributed family that infects most woody perennial plants. The links between
host diversity, phylogenetic relatedness, and pathogen virulence are outlined. The phylogeny of Botryosphaeriaceae spp. infecting grapevines (Vitis vinifera) was reconstructed, and whether closely related pathogens infect similar host species was examined. Virulence of the Botryosphaeriaceae known to infect V. vinifera was quantified using a high-throughput detached cane assay. A machine learning algorithm was trained to differentiate between asymptomatic and necrotic tissues, and lesion size was quantified as a proxy for virulence. The relationship between host diversity and lesion size was then modelled. Preliminary results show large differences in host diversity within the Botryosphaeriaceae, and a positive relationship between the phylogenetic host diversity and pathogen virulence in V. vinifera. This research provides a first step towards predicting virulence of a known pathogen on a novel host following a host jump. This approach could be used for coordinated global monitoring of high-risk species within Botryosphaeriaceae.