English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

The question as to why parasites remain generalist or become specialist is a key unresolved question in evolutionary biology.  Ampelomyces  spp., intracellular mycoparasites of powdery mildew fungi, which are themselves plant pathogens, are a useful model for studies of this issue.  Ampelomyces  is used for the biological control of mildew. Differences in mycohost phenology promote temporal isolation between sympatric  Ampelomyces  mycoparasites. Apple powdery mildew (APM) causes spring epidemics, whereas other powdery mildew species on plants other than apple cause epidemics later in the season. This has resulted in genetic differentiation between APM and non-APM strains. It is unclear whether there is genetic differentiation between non-APM  Ampelomyces  lineages due to their specialization on different mycohosts. We used microsatellites to address this question and found no significant differentiation between non-APM  Ampelomyces  strains from different mycohosts or host plants, but strong differentiation between APM and non-APM strains. A geographical structure was revealed in both groups, with differences between European countries, demonstrating restricted dispersal at the continent scale and a high resolution for our markers. We found footprints of recombination in both groups, possibly more frequent in the APM cluster. Overall,  Ampelomyces  thus appears to be one of the rare genuine generalist pathogenic fungi able to parasitize multiple hosts in natural populations. It is therefore an excellent model for studying the evolution of pathogens towards a generalist rather than host-specific strategy, particularly in light of the tritrophic interaction between  Ampelomyces  mycoparasites, their powdery mildew fungal hosts and the mildew host plants.

Host Phenology and Geography as Drivers of Differentiation in Generalist Fungal Mycoparasites