Evolutionary trade-offs between functional and immune selection shape multigene families in pathogens.

ABSTRACT: Many infectious pathogens employ rapidly diversifying multigene families to encode surface proteins that influence fitness in both a frequency-dependent and an absolute manner, through respective variation in antigenic determinants and the basic reproductive number (R ₀). How evolution shapes gene composition as pathogens compete for hosts remains largely unexplored, even though these two trait axes map to those of Modern Coexistence Theory. We address this question with a stochastic computational model for the transmission of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite and the birth-death gene dynamics of the var multigene family encoding for its major surface antigen. Selection alone cannot maintain the stable ratio observed for two gene groups within parasite geno

SUBMITTER: Zhan Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12262457 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature