Distribution of the anther-smut pathogen Microbotryum on species of the Caryophyllaceae.
*Understanding disease distributions is of fundamental and applied importance, yet few studies benefit from integrating broad sampling with ecological and phylogenetic data. Here, anther-smut disease, caused by the fungus Microbotryum, was assessed using herbarium specimens of Silene and allied genera of the Caryophyllaceae. *A total of 42,000 herbarium specimens were examined, and plant geographical distributions and morphological and life history characteristics were tested as correlates of disease occurrence. Phylogenetic comparative methods were used to determine the association between disease and plant life-span. *Disease was found on 391 herbarium specimens from 114 species and all continents with native Silene. Anther smut occurred exclusively on perennial plants, consistent with the pathogen requiring living hosts to overwinter. The disease was estimated to occur in 80% of perennial species of Silene and allied genera. The correlation between plant life-span and disease was highly significant while controlling for the plant phylogeny, but the disease was not correlated with differences in floral morphology. *Using resources available in natural history collections, this study illustrates how disease distribution can be determined, not by restriction to a clade of susceptible hosts or to a limited geographical region, but by association with host life-span, a trait that has undergone frequent evolutionary transitions.
Hood
Michael E
ME
Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA.
Mena-Alí
Jorge I
JI
Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA.
Gibson
Amanda K
AK
Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA.
Oxelman
Bengt
B
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Giraud
Tatiana
T
Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
Yockteng
Roxana
R
MNHN, Département Systématique et Evolution, 16 rue Buffon CP 39, 75005 Paris, France.
Arroyo
Mary T K
MTK
Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Facultad de Ciencias, University of Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
Conti
Fabio
F
Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, UniversitÃ di Camerino - Centro Ricerche Floristiche dell'Appennino, Barisciano (L'Aquila), Italy.
Pedersen
Amy B
AB
Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Gladieux
Pierre
P
Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Sud, F-91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
Antonovics
Janis
J
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
D001483:Base Sequence; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D029748:Caryophyllaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D003625:Data Collection; D035264:Flowers / Q000382:microbiology*; D005843:Geography; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013045:Species Specificity
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