Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108; email:
Centre of Excellence in Metapopulation Biology, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland; email:
Annu Rev Phytopathol. 2016 Aug 4;54:397-418. doi: 10.1146/annurev-phyto-080615-095959. Epub 2016 Jan 8.
Plant disease arises from the interaction of processes occurring at multiple spatial and temporal scales. With new tools such as next-generation sequencing, we are learning about the diversity of microbes circulating within and among plant populations and often coinhabiting host individuals. The proliferation of pathogenic microbes depends on single-species dynamics and multispecies interactions occurring within and among host cells, the spatial organization and genetic landscape of hosts, the frequency and mode of transmission among hosts and host populations, and the abiotic environmental context. Here, we examine empirical evidence from these multiple scales to assess the utility of metacommunity theory, a theoretical framework developed for free-living organisms to further our understanding of and assist in predicting plant-pathogen infection and spread. We suggest that deeper understanding of disease dynamics can arise through the application of this conceptual framework at scales ranging from individual cells to landscapes. In addition, we use this multiscale theoretical perspective to synthesize existing knowledge, generate novel hypotheses, and point toward promising future opportunities for the study of plant pathogens in natural populations.
植物病害是由在多个时空尺度上发生的过程相互作用引起的。随着下一代测序等新工具的出现，我们逐渐了解到在植物种群内部和之间循环并经常共同栖息在宿主个体中的微生物的多样性。致病微生物的增殖取决于发生在宿主细胞内部和之间的单物种动态和多物种相互作用、宿主的空间组织和遗传景观、宿主和宿主种群之间的传播频率和模式，以及非生物环境背景。在这里，我们从这些多个尺度检查实证证据，以评估后生群落理论的实用性，后生群落理论是为自由生活的生物体开发的理论框架，用于加深我们对植物-病原体感染和传播的理解并协助预测。我们认为，通过将这一概念框架应用于从单个细胞到景观的范围，可以更深入地了解疾病动态。此外，我们还利用这一多尺度理论视角综合现有知识，提出新的假说，并为在自然种群中研究植物病原体指明有前途的未来机会。
