Many pathogen life histories include a free-living stage, often with anatomical and physiological adaptations promoting persistence outside of host tissues. More durable particles presumably require that the pathogen metabolize more resources per particle. Therefore, we hypothesize functional dependencies, pleiotropic constraints, between the rate at which free-living particles decay outside of...

In a wild plant-pathogen system, host resistance and pathogen virulence varied markedly among local populations. Broadly virulent pathogens occurred more frequently in highly resistant host populations, whereas avirulent pathogens dominated susceptible populations. Experimental inoculations indicated a negative trade-off between spore production and virulence. The nonrandom spatial distribution...

Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as "resistance costs", are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we ...

Respiratory pathogens such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can cause severe lung infections leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The pathophysiology of ARDS includes an excessive host immune response, epithelial endothelial cell death loss the barrier integrity, culminating in pulmonary oedema failure. Traditional approaches for treatment include drugs that exert direct anti-patho...

The ‘zigzag’ model formulates some of the fundamental principles underpinning dynamic interactions between pathogen effectors and plant immunity. As key virulence factors, often exhibit a pattern rapid evolution, presumably as result host-pathogen arms race. Here, we summarize current knowledge mechanisms that may accelerate effector evolution in highly successful Phytophthora pathogens. Recent...