4.8 Article

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

Journal

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 12, Issue 1, Pages -

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24720-6

Keywords

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Funding

  1. Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship under the People Program (Marie Skodowska-Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Program FP7/2007-2013 [623764]
  2. Irish Research Council [GOIPD/2013/43]
  3. New Foundations Award 2013 schemes
  4. European Union under the European Regional Development Fund [GURDT I2016-1731-0006632]
  5. Conseil Regional de La Reunion
  6. Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator Grant [13/IA/1820]
  7. Laboratoire Universitaire des Traditions Orales et Dynamiques Contemporaines (LUTO-DC) at Universite Omar Bongo (UOB), Libreville [0030/MESRIT/UOB/R, 76/MISPD/PHO/CAB, 00108/MENES/UOB/R, 00130/MESR/UOB/VRAAC, 00012/UOB/VRAAR, 00018/UOB/VRAAR]

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Kinship systems influence the genetic structure of plant virus populations through seed exchange networks, with contrasting patterns of viral diversity in patrilineal and matrilineal communities. Social factors shape regional seed exchange networks and impact the genetic structure of plant virus populations.
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. This study combines ethnobotanical and epidemiological data to understand how social networks of seed exchange influence the genetic structure of the African cassava mosaic virus in Gabon. Results reveal contrasted patterns of viral diversity in patrilineal and matrilineal communities, consistent with cultural differences in modes of seed exchange.

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