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Rapid Antagonistic Coevolution in an Emerging Pathogen and Its Vertebrate Host
Camille Bonneaud1, Mathieu Giraudeau2, Luc Tardy1
1Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK.
Current Biology : CB
|September 11, 2018
Summary
Direct evidence for host-pathogen coevolution is rare, especially in vertebrates. This study demonstrates reciprocal adaptive changes between house finches and the bacterial pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum, showing increased resistance and virulence over time.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Ecology
- Microbiology
Background:
- Host-pathogen coevolution is crucial for eco-evolutionary dynamics but direct evidence, particularly in vertebrates, is scarce.
- Reciprocal changes in the success of both host and pathogen over time are rarely documented.
- North American house finches and Mycoplasma gallisepticum provide a model system due to known genetic resistance evolution in finch populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide direct evidence for adaptive, reciprocal coevolution between a vertebrate host and a bacterial pathogen.
- To investigate changes in resistance and virulence over time in the house finch-Mycoplasma gallisepticum system.
- To demonstrate reciprocal evolutionary changes in host defense and pathogen virulence.
Main Methods:
- A time-shift experiment using disease-exposed (adapted) and unexposed (ancestral) house finch populations.
- Experimental inoculation with Mycoplasma gallisepticum isolates from different time points (pre- and post-resistance spread).
- Assessment of host mortality, sub-lethal symptoms (eye swelling), and pathogen transmission rates.
Main Results:
- Inoculation with recent pathogen isolates caused significantly higher mortality in ancestral finches compared to adapted finches.
- Pathogen isolates sampled after resistance spread were more virulent towards ancestral hosts.
- Pathogen transmission success was highest with recent isolates in ancestral hosts and lowest with early isolates in adapted hosts.
Conclusions:
- The study provides strong evidence for antagonistic coevolution between house finches and Mycoplasma gallisepticum.
- Both hosts and pathogens have evolved reciprocal changes in resistance and virulence.
- This demonstrates adaptive evolutionary responses in a vertebrate host-pathogen system over time.
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