Abstract
Plants and pathogens evolve in response to each other. This co-evolutionary arms race is fueled by genetic variation underlying the recognition of pathogen proteins by the host and the defeat of host defenses by the pathogen. Together with new mutations, genetic diversity in populations of both the host and pathogen represent a pool of possible variants to maintain adaptation via natural selection.
Highlights
In the process of domestication, crop species have undergone striking changes in both morphology and physiology. These phenotypic changes have been brought by strong directional selection on a few genes [1]
Substantial loss of genetic diversity is often associated with speciation and specialization to a crop host, yet several studies report rapid emergence and adaptation of plant pathogens to crop species [17]
In the plant pathogen Verticillium dahliae a population genomics analysis was used to identify a determinant of race specificity [20]
Summary
In the process of domestication, crop species have undergone striking changes in both morphology and physiology. Most notably the level of genetic variation has been dramatically reduced in many domesticated species relative to their wild ancestors [1]. This is best explained by intense selection on a small subset of genotypes exhibiting desirable phenotypes. Strong selection on one gene can reduce the efficacy of selection at neighboring loci, which, in return, may lead to an accumulation of slightly deleterious mutations This process was first documented as an accumulation of non-synonymous mutations in Asian rice [5] and has since been termed the ‘‘cost’’ of domestication (see, e.g., [1,10]). The loss of variation and the cost of domestication in genomes of crop species may compromise the level of natural defenses against pathogens and render them more susceptible than their wild relatives
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