Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence
Symbiotic associations play a role in plant ecology and evolution, but the outcome of the interaction depends on the life-history traits of the partners and the environmental context. Although symbiosis with vertically transmitted microorganisms should result in mutualism, it is not clear how the tr...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Wiley
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21996 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 |
| _version_ | 1855038498891890688 |
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| author | Gundel, Pedro Emilio Ueno, Andrea C. Casas, Cecilia Miller, Tom E. X. Pérez, Luis Cuyeu, Alba Romina Omacini, Marina |
| author_browse | Casas, Cecilia Cuyeu, Alba Romina Gundel, Pedro Emilio Miller, Tom E. X. Omacini, Marina Pérez, Luis Ueno, Andrea C. |
| author_facet | Gundel, Pedro Emilio Ueno, Andrea C. Casas, Cecilia Miller, Tom E. X. Pérez, Luis Cuyeu, Alba Romina Omacini, Marina |
| author_sort | Gundel, Pedro Emilio |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Symbiotic associations play a role in plant ecology and evolution, but the outcome of the interaction depends on the life-history traits of the partners and the environmental context. Although symbiosis with vertically transmitted microorganisms should result in mutualism, it is not clear how the transmission process aligns with the outcome of the context-dependent symbiosis.
For 3 years, we sampled individuals of an annual plant species that forms symbiosis with a vertically transmitted fungal endophyte, in paired stands of two contrasting vegetation communities (humid mesophytic meadows [HMM]: productive/low stress, and humid prairies [HP]: less productive/high stress). We estimated the prevalence of symbiosis at the population level, and the fitness of the plant, the symbiotic status and vertical transmission efficiency at the individual level.
Over 3 years, the prevalence of symbiosis was ≈100% in HMM and ≈75% in HP. Plant fitness was very low and high in years with precipitation below and above the yearly mean, respectively. The higher fitness of endophyte-symbiotic plants was evident in the HMM and high precipitation years. Vertical transmission of endophytes was higher in HMM (≈96%) compared to HP (≈93%) and was not related to plant fitness. Despite transmission inefficiencies in HP, changes in prevalence within the growing season (from seeds to the final plant stand) suggest a fitness advantage for symbiotic plants.
Vertical transmission is expected to promote mutualism as it aligns partners' fitness. Although symbiotic plants showed higher fitness and the probability of transmission failures was higher among low-fitness plants, the variation in transmission efficiency between plants and vegetation communities was not related to the fitness of the individual host. Our study provides evidence that context-dependent vertical transmission efficiency and endophyte-mediated fitness advantages interact complexly to determine the prevalence of symbiosis in populations that occur in contrasting vegetation communities. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA21996 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA219962025-04-23T09:56:54Z Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence Gundel, Pedro Emilio Ueno, Andrea C. Casas, Cecilia Miller, Tom E. X. Pérez, Luis Cuyeu, Alba Romina Omacini, Marina Annuals Epichloe Endophytes Lolium multiflorum Mutualism Plant Population Biological Interaction Symbionts Symbiosis Plantas Anuales Endofitas Mutualismo Población Vegetal Interacción Biológica Simbiontico Simbiosis Epichloë occultans Symbiotic associations play a role in plant ecology and evolution, but the outcome of the interaction depends on the life-history traits of the partners and the environmental context. Although symbiosis with vertically transmitted microorganisms should result in mutualism, it is not clear how the transmission process aligns with the outcome of the context-dependent symbiosis. For 3 years, we sampled individuals of an annual plant species that forms symbiosis with a vertically transmitted fungal endophyte, in paired stands of two contrasting vegetation communities (humid mesophytic meadows [HMM]: productive/low stress, and humid prairies [HP]: less productive/high stress). We estimated the prevalence of symbiosis at the population level, and the fitness of the plant, the symbiotic status and vertical transmission efficiency at the individual level. Over 3 years, the prevalence of symbiosis was ≈100% in HMM and ≈75% in HP. Plant fitness was very low and high in years with precipitation below and above the yearly mean, respectively. The higher fitness of endophyte-symbiotic plants was evident in the HMM and high precipitation years. Vertical transmission of endophytes was higher in HMM (≈96%) compared to HP (≈93%) and was not related to plant fitness. Despite transmission inefficiencies in HP, changes in prevalence within the growing season (from seeds to the final plant stand) suggest a fitness advantage for symbiotic plants. Vertical transmission is expected to promote mutualism as it aligns partners' fitness. Although symbiotic plants showed higher fitness and the probability of transmission failures was higher among low-fitness plants, the variation in transmission efficiency between plants and vegetation communities was not related to the fitness of the individual host. Our study provides evidence that context-dependent vertical transmission efficiency and endophyte-mediated fitness advantages interact complexly to determine the prevalence of symbiosis in populations that occur in contrasting vegetation communities. Instituto de Genética Fil: Gundel, Pedro E. Universidad de Talca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas. Centro de Ecología Integrativa; Chile Fil: Gundel, Pedro E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Ecología; Argentina Fil: Gundel, Pedro E. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Ueno, Andrea C. Universidad de Talca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas. Centro de Ecología Integrativa; Chile Fil: Ueno, Andrea C. Universidad de Talca. Instituto de Investigación Interdisciplinaria; Chile Fil: Casas, Cecilia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Ecología; Argentina Fil: Casas, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Casas, Cecilia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Edafología; Argentina Fil: Miller, Tom E. X. Rice University. Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Department of BioSciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Pérez, Luis. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Ecología; Argentina Fil: Pérez, Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Cuyeu, Alba Romina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética; Argentina Fil: Omacini, Marina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Ecología; Argentina Fil: Omacini, Marina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina 2025-04-23T09:49:38Z 2025-04-23T09:49:38Z 2024-12 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21996 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 1365-2435 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Wiley Functional Ecology 38 (12) : 2610-2622 (Diciembre 2024) |
| spellingShingle | Annuals Epichloe Endophytes Lolium multiflorum Mutualism Plant Population Biological Interaction Symbionts Symbiosis Plantas Anuales Endofitas Mutualismo Población Vegetal Interacción Biológica Simbiontico Simbiosis Epichloë occultans Gundel, Pedro Emilio Ueno, Andrea C. Casas, Cecilia Miller, Tom E. X. Pérez, Luis Cuyeu, Alba Romina Omacini, Marina Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title | Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title_full | Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title_fullStr | Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title_short | Temporal host–symbiont dynamics in community contexts : Impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| title_sort | temporal host symbiont dynamics in community contexts impacts of host fitness and vertical transmission efficiency on symbiosis prevalence |
| topic | Annuals Epichloe Endophytes Lolium multiflorum Mutualism Plant Population Biological Interaction Symbionts Symbiosis Plantas Anuales Endofitas Mutualismo Población Vegetal Interacción Biológica Simbiontico Simbiosis Epichloë occultans |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/21996 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14681 |
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