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Updated: May 10, 2026

A Comparative Approach to Characterize the Landscape of Host-Pathogen Protein-Protein Interactions
Published on: July 18, 2013
Genes, communities & invasive species: understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of host-pathogen
J J Burdon1, P H Thrall, L Ericson
1CSIRO - Plant Industry, PO Box 1600, Canberra, A.C.T. 2601, Australia. jeremy.burdon@csiro.au
Abstract:
Reciprocal interactions between hosts and pathogens drive ecological, epidemiological and co-evolutionary trajectories, resulting in complex patterns of diversity at population, species and community levels. Recent results confirm the importance of negative frequency-dependent rather than 'arms-race' processes in the evolution of individual host-pathogen associations. At the community level, complex relationships between species abundance and diversity dampen or alter pathogen impacts. Invasive pathogens challenge these controls reflecting the earliest stages of evolutionary associations (akin to arms-race) where disease effects may be so great that they overwhelm the host's and community's ability to respond. Viewing these different stabilization/destabilization phases as a continuum provides a valuable perspective to assessment of the role of genetics and ecology in the dynamics of both natural and invasive host-pathogen associations.
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