Plastic potential: how the phenotypes and adaptations of pathogens are influenced by microbial interactions within plants

• Published in: Current opinion in plant biology Vol. 38; pp. 78 - 83
• Main Authors: O’Keeffe, Kayleigh R, Carbone, Ignazio, Jones, Corbin D, Mitchell, Charles E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2017
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological - genetics; Adaptation, Physiological - physiology; Biological Evolution; Genome, Plant - genetics; Host-Pathogen Interactions - genetics; Host-Pathogen Interactions - physiology; Plants - metabolism; Plants - microbiology
• ISSN: 1369-5266; 1879-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2017.04.014

•Individual plant pathogens respond plastically to within-host microbial interactions.•Within-host microbial interactions may impact pathogen population dynamics.•Cross-level studies will elucidate connection between plastic and genetic responses.
Predicting the effects of plant-associated microbes on emergence, spread, and evolution of plant pathogens demands an understanding of how pathogens respond to these microbes at two levels of biological organization: that of an individual pathogen and that of a pathogen population across multiple individual plants. We first examine the plastic responses of individual plant pathogens to microbes within a shared host, as seen through changes in pathogen growth and multiplication. We then explore the limited understanding of how within-plant microbial interactions affect pathogen populations and discuss the need to incorporate population-level observations with population genomic techniques. Finally, we suggest that integrating across levels will further our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary impacts of within-plant microbial interactions on pathogens.