Salmonella is a causative agent for a wide variety of pathological diseases in humans, cattle, poultry and other farm animals and hence Salmonella infections are a major cause of concern to humans, veterinary animals and to food industry. With characterization of over 2500 Salmonella serovars, the pathogen nearly infects all vertebrates but the severity of infection varies from one serovar to a...

Host specificity has been investigated for centuries in mistletoes, viruses, insects, parasitoids, lice and flukes, yet it is poorly understood. Reviewing the numerous studies on mistletoe host specificity may contribute to our understanding of these plants and put into context the dynamics at work in root parasitic plants and animal parasites. The mechanisms that determine host specificity in ...

As information becomes available for many groups of organisms a general pattern of phylogenetic conservatism in ecological characters or morphological traits is now widely recognized. Conversely, conservatism of external ecological attributes throughout a lineage is still a contentious theme in ecology. Moreover, the studies exploring this topic have focused on free-living organisms, and have i...

In mammals, phagocytosis is essential for a variety of biological events, including tissue remodeling and the continuous clearance of dying cells. Furthermore, phagocytosis represents an early and crucial event in triggering host defenses against invading pathogens, which is the focus of this commentary. Phagocytosis comprises a series of events, starting with the binding and recognition of par...

The genetic properties of a new (hspS) host specificity of Salmonella typhimurium were investigated using bacteriophage L. Phage L is a better substrate for s-specific restriction than phage P22. Mutants deficient in s-restriction only were found at the same frequency as mutants deficient in both restriction and modification. Crosses between S. typhimurium Hfr and S. typhimurium For between Esc...

Understanding the molecular parameters that regulate cross-species transmission and host adaptation of potential pathogens is crucial to control emerging infectious disease. Although microbial pathotype diversity is conventionally associated with gene gain or loss, the role of pathoadaptive nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) has not been systematically evaluated. Here, our g...

Pathogens and parasites can be strong agents of selection and often exhibit genetic specificity for individual host strains. Here we use a simple host–pathogen model to explore the consequences of host–pathogen specificity for selection on pathogen infectiousness and lethality. Pathogens that can transmit themselves more readily from host to host should have a clear reproductive advantage, as s...

Fusarium solain is the most important pathogen of huge range of plant hosts, especially potato in the word, which causes tuber rot in storage and root rot of potato plants in fields. Fifty four isolates from potato, bean, chickpea and cucurbit (melon, watermelon and cucumber) was subjected in a study through analysis of vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) and rep-PCR DNA fingerprinting. Nit ...

Novotny et al. (Reports, 25 August 2006, p. 1115) argued that higher herbivore diversity in tropical forests results from greater phylogenetic diversity of host plants, not from higher host specificity. However, if host specificity is related to host abundance, differences in relative host abundance between tropical and temperate regions may limit any general conclusion that herbivore diversity...

Specificity in parasitic interactions can be defined by host genotypes that are resistant to only a subset of parasite genotypes and parasite genotypes that are infective on a subset of host genotypes. It is not always clear if specificity is determined by the genotypes of the interactors, or if phenotypic plasticity (sometimes called acclimation) plays a larger role. Coevolutionary outcomes cr...