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The quick and the deadly: Growth versus
virulence in a seed bank pathogen
Meyer, Susan E.; Stewart, Thomas E.; Clement, Suzette. 2010. The quick and the deadly: Growth versus virulence in a seed bank pathogen. New Phytologist. 187: 207-216.
We studied the relationship between virulence (ability to kill nondormant Bromus tectorum seeds) and mycelial growth index in the necrotrophic seed pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda. Seed pathosystems involving necrotrophs differ from those commonly treated in traditional evolution-of-virulence models in that host death increases pathogen fitness by preventing germination, thereby increasing available resources. Because fast-germinating, nondormant B. tectorum seeds commonly escape mortality, we expected virulence to be positively correlated with mycelial growth index.
Keywords: Bromus tectorum, cheatgrass, Drechslera campanulata, necrotrophic pathogenesis, Pyrenophora semeniperda (black fingers of death), seed bank pathogen, virulence evolution
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Publications: The quick and the deadly: Growth versus virulence
in a seed bank pathogen
Electronic Publish Date: March 15, 2012
Last Update: March
15, 2012