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Tobamoviruses show broad host ranges and little genetic diversity among four habitat types of a heterogeneous ecosystem.

Paper by Adrián D. Zamfir, Bisola M. Babalola, Aurora Fraile, Michael J. McLeish and Fernando García-Arenal. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1094/PHYTO-11-22-0439-V Distribution of tobamovirus infection in plant communities in a heterogeneous ecosystem showed large host ranges and limited genetic diversity, not depending on host or habitat. result underscore the relevance of the probability of virus-host encounters, rahter than of apdatation, in tobamovirus host ranges in nature.

Understadning virus host range evolution is a hot topic as it relates to virus emergence. We have studied infection patterns of tobamoviruses, a group of important contact- and seed-transmitted pathogens, in a heterogeneous ecosystem, Tobamoviruses are tought to have narrow natural host ranges and to be abundant in crops but not in wild plant communities. Detection by high-throughput sequencing and RT-PCR was used to estimate tobamovirus the host ranges and genetic diversity in plant communities from habitats under different levels of human intervention in an ecosystem. Contrary to expectations, some tobamoviruses had large host ranges, and the number of hosts did not depend on the habitat being anthropic or wild. Genetic diversity was low and was not structured according to host taxonomy or habitat, which indicates these viruses are able to infect new hosts with no need of adaptive evolution, but rather according to the probability of host encounters. These findings highlight the relevance of ecological factors in virus host ranges, in addition to the better-studied genetics of adaptation to hosts



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