Abstract
Experimental evidence indicates that stabilizing selection for pathogenicity is operative in cereal rust fungi. Similar evidence for other plant parasitic fungi is also presented. Studies on Puccinia recondita showed that the number of loci for high pathogenicity in a parasite culture and its relative ability to increase in a mixed population are inversely related. Parasite cultures with fewer number of loci for high pathogenicity exhibited greater longevity in vitro, higher infectivity, shorter incubation period, and greater adaptability to varying temperature and light conditions. Based on empirical evidence it is concluded that in a mixed population, in a compatible host:parasite system, low pathogenicity is selected for and high pathogenicity against. In natural populations equilibrium is soon established between low and high pathogenicity provided that the host population is not changed and compatibility is maintained in the host:parasite system. It is proposed that high pathogenicity is the result of a deletion of the locus for low pathogenicity. Possibly, then, a chromosomal segment carrying gene(s) for vital metabolic activity is also removed, thus making the parasite culture unable to compete with other members of the population which do not carry such deletion.
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Aslam, M., Browder, L.E. (1977). Stabilizing Selection for Pathogenicity in Cereal Rust Fungi. In: Muhammed, A., Aksel, R., von Borstel, R.C. (eds) Genetic Diversity in Plants. Basic Life Sciences, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2886-5_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2886-5_18
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