Differences in host resistance and susceptibility to infection modulate the rate of plant virus evolution

Abstract

Differences in host susceptibility can lead to virus diversification into different strains. Here I’ll summarize a series of evolution studies of potyviruses in Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with disruptions in infection-response pathways. The plant genotypes were categorized based on their infection response. We found that virus evolution was faster in more resistant hosts. The original virus's phenotypic differences across host genotypes reduced after evolution, due to selection and chance. Restrictive plant genotypes favored generalist viruses, while permissive genotypes favored specialist viruses. The study identified the genome-linked protein VPg as a selection target in most host genotypes. Overall, the research highlights how various host defenses impact the speed and extent of virus evolution.

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