What Can Phages Tell Us about Host-Pathogen Coevolution?
Figure 2
Plots represent allele frequency changes over time as predicted by GFG (a) and MA (b) models of coevolution. In the GFG model, directional selection fixes host (blue) and parasite (red) alleles arising via mutation. Each specific host resistance allele interacts with a specific parasite avirulence gene. Parasites counter host resistance via mutations in avirulence genes. Over time, genetic changes accumulate in both populations. By contrast, virulence and resistance alleles persist as dynamic polymorphisms in the MA models. Here parasites (red) become specialized for a common host genotype (blue), reducing its fitness. Over time, this host genotype will decline in frequency as less common genotypes are favored because of reduced parasite load. Reduced host frequency reduces the benefits of parasite specialization on this host relative to more common host genotypes. Reduced parasite load leads to increased host fitness, causing the cycle to repeat. Figure modified from Woolhouse et al., 2002 [5].
