Dataset Information

Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe.

ABSTRACT: Infectious diseases are influenced by interactions between host and pathogen, and the number of infected hosts is rarely homogenous across the landscape. Areas with elevated pathogen prevalence can maintain a high force of infection and may indicate areas with disease impacts on host populations. However, isolating the ecological processes that result in increases in infection prevalence and intensity remains a challenge. Here we elucidate the contribution of pathogen clade and host species in disease hotspots caused by Ophidiomyces ophidiicola, the pathogen responsible for snake fungal disease, in 21 species of snakes infected with multiple pathogen strains across 10 countries in Europe. We found isolated areas of disease hotspots in a landscape where infections were otherwise low. O. ophidiicola clade had important effects on transmission, and areas with multiple pathogen clades had higher host infection prevalence. Snake species further influenced infection, with most positive detections coming from species within the Natrix genus. Our results suggest that both host and pathogen identity are essential components contributing to increased pathogen prevalence.

SUBMITTER: Blanvillain G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11006896 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe.

Blanvillain Gaëlle G Lorch Jeffrey M JM Joudrier Nicolas N Bury Stanislaw S Cuenot Thibault T Franzen Michael M Martínez-Freiría Fernando F Guiller Gaëtan G Halpern Bálint B Kolanek Aleksandra A Kurek Katarzyna K Lourdais Olivier O Michon Alix A Musilová Radka R Schweiger Silke S Szulc Barbara B Ursenbacher Sylvain S Zinenko Oleksandr O Hoyt Joseph R JR

Communications biology 20240410 1

Infectious diseases are influenced by interactions between host and pathogen, and the number of infected hosts is rarely homogenous across the landscape. Areas with elevated pathogen prevalence can maintain a high force of infection and may indicate areas with disease impacts on host populations. However, isolating the ecological processes that result in increases in infection prevalence and intensity remains a challenge. Here we elucidate the contribution of pathogen clade and host species in d ...[more]

PMID: 38600171

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Project description:The degree to which plant pathogen infestation occurs in a host plant is expected to be strongly influenced by the level of species diversity among neighbouring host and non-host plant species. Since pathogen infestation can negatively affect host plant performance, it can mediate the effects of local biodiversity on ecosystem functioning.We tested the effects of tree diversity and the proportion of neighbouring host and non-host species with respect to the foliar fungal pathogens of Tilia cordata and Quercus petraea in the Kreinitz tree diversity experiment in Germany. We hypothesized that fungal pathogen richness increases while infestation decreases with increasing local tree diversity. In addition, we tested whether fungal pathogen richness and infestation are dependent on the proportion of host plant species present or on the proportion of particular non-host neighbouring tree species.Leaves of the two target species were sampled across three consecutive years with visible foliar fungal pathogens on the leaf surface being identified macro- and microscopically. Effects of diversity among neighbouring trees were analysed: (i) for total fungal species richness and fungal infestation on host trees and (ii) for infestation by individual fungal species.We detected four and five fungal species on T. cordata and Q. petraea, respectively. High local tree diversity reduced (i) total fungal species richness and infestation of T. cordata and fungal infestation of Q. petraea and (ii) infestation by three host-specialized fungal pathogen species. These effects were brought about by local tree diversity and were independent of host species proportion. In general, host species proportion had almost no effect on fungal species richness and infestation. Strong effects associated with the proportion of particular non-host neighbouring tree species on fungal species richness and infestation were, however, recorded.Synthesis. For the first time, we experimentally demonstrated that for two common forestry tree species, foliar fungal pathogen richness and infestation depend on local biodiversity. Thus, local tree diversity can have positive impacts on ecosystem functioning in managed forests by decreasing the level of fungal pathogen infestation.

Dataset Information

Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe.

Publications

Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe.

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