Benefits and Costs of Animal Virulence for Microbes
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: This essay is written from the vantage point of the microbial world. While the focus of much thought in the microbial pathogenesis and infectious diseases fields has been on the impact of host-microbe interaction on the host, here we ask questions about what happens to the microbe. What are the costs and benefits for microbes of having the capacity for virulence? Our exploration of this topic leads us to conclude that virulence confers very few benefits for microbes, unless disease is necessary for microbial survival through host-to-host spread. In fact, the capacity for virulence is often fraught with risk for microbes, including host dependence and the threat of extinction. The costs of virulence may explain why, relative to their enormous numbers in nature, very few microbes are actually associated with human and animal disease.
Source: mBio
Authors: Arturo Casadevall, Liise-anne Pirofski
Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,900
OpenAlex ID: W2948580301