Domestication and microbiome succession may drive pathogen spillover

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Molecular Biology
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Emerging infectious diseases pose significant global threats.
• Current understanding struggles to reconcile ecological observations of frequent pathogen spillovers with molecular-level host-pathogen interactions.
• Existing molecular data often predict limited spillover events, creating a knowledge gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a synthetic explanation for pathogen spillover events by integrating ecological and molecular perspectives.
• To propose that domestication, horizontal gene transfer, and microbiome succession are critical factors in host switching.
• To offer a new molecular-level framework explaining frequent ecological spillover observations.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of evidence from peer-reviewed studies.
• Development of a theoretical framework integrating domestication, horizontal gene transfer (HGT), and microbiome succession.
• Analysis of molecular and ecological data to support the proposed mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Domestication, HGT (even between superkingdoms), and microbiome succession are identified as essential processes in pathogen spillover.
• A novel molecular perspective is presented that reconciles frequent spillover events observed at the ecological level.
• The proposed mechanisms offer a comprehensive explanation for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases.

Conclusions:

• Domestication, horizontal gene transfer, and microbial succession are likely significant mechanisms driving pathogen spillover events.
• These processes are accelerated by anthropogenic factors like climate change, biodiversity loss, and globalization.
• Systematic monitoring of virulence genes across the biosphere is essential for pandemic prevention.