Resistance Genes Affect How Pathogens Maintain Plant Abundance and Diversity

Specialized pathogens are thought to maintain plant community diversity; however, most ecological studies treat pathogens as a black box. Here we develop a theoretical model to test how the impact of specialized pathogens changes when plant resistance genes (R-genes) mediate susceptibility. This work synthesizes two major hypotheses: the gene-for-gene model of pathogen resistance and the Janzen-Connell hypothesis of pathogen-mediated coexistence. We examine three scenarios. First, R-genes do not affect seedling survival; in this case, pathogens promote diversity. Second, seedlings are protected from pathogens when their R-gene alleles and susceptibility differ from those of nearby conspecific adults, thereby reducing transmission. If resistance is not costly, pathogens are less able to promote diversity because populations with low R-gene diversity suffer higher mortality, putting those populations at a disadvantage and potentially causing their exclusion. R-gene diversity may also be reduced during population bottlenecks, creating a priority effect. Third, when R-genes affect survival but resistance is costly, populations can avoid extinction by losing resistance alleles, as they cease paying a cost that is unneeded. Thus, the impact pathogens can have on tree diversity depends on the mechanism of plant-pathogen interactions. Future empirical studies should examine which of these scenarios most closely reflects the real world.

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Work Title Resistance Genes Affect How Pathogens Maintain Plant Abundance and Diversity
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Simon Stump
  2. James H. Marden
  3. Noelle G. Beckman
  4. Scott Mangan
  5. Liza Comita
Keyword
  1. Community
  2. Ecology
  3. Plant-pathogen interaction
  4. Gene-for-gene model
  5. Resistance genes
  6. Cost of resistance
  7. Janzen-Connell hypothesis
  8. Plant-soil feedback
  9. Modern coexistence theory
License CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Work Type Article
Acknowledgments
  1. We thank Aurélien Tellier, Greg Dwyer, the Comita-Queenborough lab, and two extremely helpful anonymous reviewers for thoughtful discussion. We also thank the Ecological Society of America, as this article benefitted greatly from a presentation given at its 2019 annual meeting. This work was supported by the high-performance computing facilities and staff of the Yale Center for Research Computing. This research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1457515 to L.S.C., J.H.M., and S.A.M. and NSF grant DEB-1457561 to S.A.M.
Publisher
  1. The American Naturalist
Publication Date April 29, 2020
Subject
  1. Ecology
Language
  1. English
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1086/710486
Geographic Area
  1. Tropical forests
Related URLs
Deposited May 09, 2023

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Updated
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • We thank Aur lien Tellier, Greg Dwyer, the Comita- Queenborough lab, and two extremely helpful anonymous reviewers for thoughtful discussion. We also thank the Ecological Society of America, as this article benefitted greatly from a presentation given at its 2019 annual meeting. This work was supported by the high-performance computing facilities and staff of the Yale Center for Research Computing. This research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1457515 to L.S.C., J.H.M., and S.A.M. and NSF grant DEB-1457561 to S.A.M.
  • Added Creator James H. Marden
  • Added Creator Simon Stump
  • Added Creator Noelle G. Beckman
  • Added Creator Liza Comita
  • Added Stump et al. Am Nat 2020.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publisher, Related URLs Show Changes
    Keyword
    • community, ecology, plant-pathogen interaction
    • Community, Ecology, Plant-pathogen interaction, Gene-for-gene model, Resistance genes, Cost of resistance, Janzen-Connell hypothesis, Plant-soil feedback, Modern coexistence theory
    Publisher
    • University of Chicago Press
    • The American Naturalist
    Related URLs
    • https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/710486
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • We thank Aur lien Tellier, Greg Dwyer, the Comita- Queenborough lab, and two extremely helpful anonymous reviewers for thoughtful discussion. We also thank the Ecological Society of America, as this article benefitted greatly from a presentation given at its 2019 annual meeting. This work was supported by the high-performance computing facilities and staff of the Yale Center for Research Computing. This research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1457515 to L.S.C., J.H.M., and S.A.M. and NSF grant DEB-1457561 to S.A.M.
    • We thank Aurélien Tellier, Greg Dwyer, the Comita-Queenborough lab, and two extremely helpful anonymous reviewers for thoughtful discussion. We also thank the Ecological Society of America, as this article benefitted greatly from a presentation given at its 2019 annual meeting. This work was supported by the high-performance computing facilities and staff of the Yale Center for Research Computing. This research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grant DEB-1457515 to L.S.C., J.H.M., and S.A.M. and NSF grant DEB-1457561 to S.A.M.
  • Updated Creator James H. Marden
  • Updated Creator Simon Stump
  • Updated Creator Liza Comita
  • Added Creator Scott Mangan
  • Updated