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- Naepflin, Kathrin, et al.
(författare)
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Genomics of host-pathogen interactions: challenges and opportunities across ecological and spatiotemporal scales
- 2019
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Ingår i: PeerJ. - 2167-8359. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evolutionary genomics has recently entered a new era in the study of host-pathogen interactions. A variety of novel genomic techniques has transformed the identification, detection and classification of both hosts and pathogens, allowing a greater resolution that helps decipher their underlying dynamics and provides novel insights into their environmental context. Nevertheless, many challenges to a general understanding of host-pathogen interactions remain, in particular in the synthesis and integration of concepts and findings across a variety of systems and different spatiotemporal and ecological scales. In this perspective we aim to highlight some of the commonalities and complexities across diverse studies of host-pathogen interactions, with a focus on ecological, spatiotemporal variation, and the choice of genomic methods used. We performed a quantitative review of recent literature to investigate links, patterns and potential tradeoffs between the complexity of genomic, ecological and spatiotemporal scales undertaken in individual host-pathogen studies. We found that the majority of studies used whole genome resolution to address their research objectives across a broad range of ecological scales, especially when focusing on the pathogen side of the interaction. Nevertheless, genomic studies conducted in a complex spatiotemporal context are currently rare in the literature. Because processes of host-pathogen interactions can be understood at multiple scales, from molecular-, cellular-, and physiological-scales to the levels of populations and ecosystems, we conclude that a major obstacle for synthesis across diverse host-pathogen systems is that data are collected on widely diverging scales with different degrees of resolution. This disparity not only hampers effective infrastructural organization of the data but also data granularity and accessibility. Comprehensive metadata deposited in association with genomic data in easily accessible databases will allow greater inference across systems in the future, especially when combined with open data standards and practices. The standardization and comparability of such data will facilitate early detection of emerging infectious diseases as well as studies of the impact of anthropogenic stressors, such as climate change, on disease dynamics in humans and wildlife.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- O’Connor, Emily A., et al.
(författare)
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The evolution of immunity in relation to colonization and migration
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 2:5, s. 841-849
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Colonization and migration have a crucial effect on patterns of biodiversity, with disease predicted to play an important role in these processes. However, evidence of the effect of pathogens on broad patterns of colonization and migration is limited. Here, using phylogenetic analyses of 1,311 species of Afro-Palaearctic songbirds, we show that colonization events from regions of high (sub-Saharan Africa) to low (the Palaearctic) pathogen diversity were up to 20 times more frequent than the reverse, and that migration has evolved 3 times more frequently from African- as opposed to Palaearctic-resident species. We also found that resident species that colonized the Palaearctic from Africa, as well as African species that evolved long-distance migration to breed in the Palaearctic, have reduced diversity of key immune genes associated with pathogen recognition (major histocompatibility complex class I). These results suggest that changes in the pathogen community that occur during colonization and migration shape the evolution of the immune system, potentially by adjusting the trade-off between the benefits of extensive pathogen recognition and the costs of immunopathology that result from high major histocompatibility complex class I diversity.
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| 4. |
- Sommerville, Rebecca, et al.
(författare)
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Why do dogs play? Function and welfare implications of play in the domestic dog
- 2017
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591. ; 197, s. 1-8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Play is an enigmatic behaviour, the function of which is still debated, despite more than a century of research. We discuss the evolutionary function of play behaviour, focusing on the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), a unique species due to its past domestication and current cohabitation with humans. The ultimate function of play in dogs is explored through four main theories: 1) developing motor skills; 2) training for the unexpected; 3) social cohesion; and 4) play as a by-product of biological processes. The proximate functions of play and the association between play and animal welfare, which is widely believed to be positive, are examined. The majority of evidence supports the developing motor skills and social cohesion functions of play in dogs, with some support for training for the unexpected. Most types of play appear to improve social cohesion between humans and dogs, increasing their familiarity and reducing agonistic interactions. Play in dogs is unlikely to have arisen only as a by-product of other biological processes, but has been shaped directly and indirectly by artificial selection. Multiple factors determine when and why adult dogs play and these differ for solitary, intraspecific and interspecific play. We suggest that play is not a reliable, generalisable, positive welfare indicator, but, rather, a heterogeneous behaviour which serves different functions. This multifaceted view of play implies that early experience, prior life-history and the context of the interaction define the association between play and welfare.
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