Kinship networks of seed exchange shape spatial patterns of plant virus diversity

Marc Delêtre (), Jean-Michel Lett, Ronan Sulpice and Charles Spillane
Additional contact information
Marc Delêtre: Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway
Jean-Michel Lett: Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), UMR PVBMT
Ronan Sulpice: Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway
Charles Spillane: Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland Galway

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract By structuring farmers’ informal networks of seed exchange, kinship systems play a key role in the dynamics of crop genetic diversity in smallholder farming systems. However, because many crop diseases are propagated through infected germplasm, local seed systems can also facilitate the dissemination of seedborne pathogens. Here, we investigate how the interplay of kinship systems and local networks of germplasm exchange influences the metapopulation dynamics of viruses responsible for the cassava mosaic disease (CMD), a major threat to food security in Africa. Combining anthropological, genetic and plant epidemiological data, we analyzed the genetic structure of local populations of the African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV), one of the main causal agents of CMD. Results reveal contrasted patterns of viral diversity in patrilineal and matrilineal communities, consistent with local modes of seed exchange. Our results demonstrate that plant virus ecosystems have also a cultural component and that social factors that shape regional seed exchange networks influence the genetic structure of plant virus populations.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24720-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24720-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24720-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().