Indirect interactions among co-infecting parasites and a microbial mutualist impact disease progression.

ABSTRACT: Interactions among parasites and other microbes within hosts can impact disease progression, yet study of such interactions has been mostly limited to pairwise combinations of microbes. Given the diversity of microbes within hosts, indirect interactions among more than two microbial species may also impact disease. To test this hypothesis, we performed inoculation experiments that investigated interactions among two fungal parasites, Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum cereale, and a systemic fungal endophyte, Epichloë coenophiala, within the grass, tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum). Both direct and indirect interactions impacted disease progression. While the endophyte did not directly influence R. solani disease progression or C. cereale sympto

SUBMITTER: O'Keeffe KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8354751 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature