And the nasty ones lose in the end: foliar pathogenicity trades off with asexual transmission in the Irish famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans

摘要

A trade-off between pathogenicity and transmission is often postulated to explain the persistence of pathogens over time. If demonstrated, it would help to predict the evolution of pathogenicity across cropping seasons, and to develop sustainable control strategies from this prediction. Unfortunately, experimental demonstration of such trade-offs in agricultural plant pathogens remains elusive.