Evolution of sibling fungal plant pathogens in relation to host specialization

Abstract

Sibling plant pathogens can be grouped according to their host ranges into the following groups: group 1, sibling pathogens with nonoverlapping host ranges; group 2, sibling pathogens with both overlapping and nonoverlapping host ranges; and group 3, sibling pathogens with overlapping host ranges. Using the adaptive dynamics methodology, we investigated the evolution of sibling pathogens in relation to host specialization for groups 1 to 3. In particular, we focused on the role of multiple host niches and a trade-off in infectivity of pathogens to these hosts on the evolutionary outcome. We have shown that this ecological mechanism can explain only the evolution of sibling pathogens in group 1 and that other ecological and epidemiological mechanisms must be responsible for the evolution of sibling pathogens in the other two groups.