10.5061/DRYAD.0B707
Ford, Suzanne A.
University of Oxford
Williams, David
University of Liverpool
Paterson, Steve
University of Liverpool
King, Kayla C.
University of Oxford
Data from: Co-evolutionary dynamics between a defensive microbe and a
pathogen driven by fluctuating selection
Dryad
dataset
2016
Symbiosis
Enterococcus faecalis
Caenorhabditis elegans
Host Parasite Interactions
Species interactions
Coevolution
Staphylococcus aureus
2016-11-04T16:34:21Z
2016-11-04T16:34:21Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13906
12963 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Microbes that protect their hosts from pathogenic infection are widespread
components of the microbiota of both plants and animals. It has been found
that interactions between ‘defensive’ microbes and pathogens can be
genotype-specific and even underlie the variation in host resistance to
pathogenic infection. These observations suggest a dynamic co-evolutionary
association between pathogens and defensive microbes, but direct evidence
of co-evolution is lacking. We tested the hypothesis that defensive
microbes and pathogens could co-evolve within host populations by
co-passaging a microbe with host-defensive properties (Enterococcus
faecalis) and a pathogen (Staphylococcus aureus) within Caenorhabditis
elegans nematodes. Using both phenotypic and genomic analyses across
evolutionary time, we found patterns of pathogen local adaptation and
defensive microbe–pathogen co-evolution via fluctuating selection
dynamics. Moreover, co-evolution with defensive microbes resulted in more
rapid and divergent pathogen evolution compared to pathogens evolved
independently in host populations. Taken together, our results indicate
the potential for defensive microbes and pathogens to co-evolve, driving
interaction specificity and pathogen evolutionary divergence in the
absence of host evolution.
All data filesAll data files (CSV files) for each figure in paper along
with supporting files.Ford et al. all files.zip