title: Mate Finding, Sexual Spore Production, and the Spread of Fungal Plant Parasites.
abstract: Sexual reproduction and dispersal are often coupled in organisms mixing sexual and asexual reproduction, such as fungi. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of mate limitation on the spreading speed of fungal plant parasites. Starting from a simple model with two coupled partial differential equations, we take advantage of the fact that we are interested in the dynamics over large spatial and temporal scales to reduce the model to a single equation. We obtain a simple expression for speed of spread, accounting for both sexual and asexual reproduction. Taking Black Sigatoka disease of banana plants as a case study, the model prediction is in close agreement with the actual spreading speed (100 km per year), whereas a similar model without mate limitation predicts a wave speed one order of magnitude greater. We discuss the implications of these results to control parasites in which sexual reproduction and dispersal are intrinsically coupled.
authors.affiliation: AGROCAMPUS OUEST, UMR1349 IGEPP, 35042, Rennes, France. fhamelin@agrocampus-ouest.fr.
authors.forename: Frédéric M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2653-699X
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Hamelin
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, UMR 6625 IRMAR, 35042, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castella
authors.affiliation: Université de Rennes 1, UMR 6625 IRMAR, 35042, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Doli
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR 1136 IAM, 54280, Champenoux, France.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marçais
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR BGPI, 34398, Montpellier, France.|CIRAD, UMR PVBMT, 97410, Saint Pierre, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ravigné
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D005658:Fungi / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008954:Models, Biological; D028521:Musa / Q000382:microbiology; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Allee effect; Density-dependent dispersal; Facultative parthenogenesis; Pushed wave; Spore-producing pathogens