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García-Ordóñez LAuthorPagán IAuthor

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Vertical and horizontal transmission of plant viruses: two extremes of a continuum?

Publicated to:Npj Viruses. 2 (1): 18- - 2024-05-20 2(1), DOI: 10.1038/s44298-024-00030-8

Authors: García-Ordóñez L; Pagán I

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Abstract

Parasites have a variety of mechanisms to be transmitted to new susceptible hosts, which can be largely grouped in two main modes: vertical (i.e., from parents to the offspring) and horizontal (i.e., between hosts regardless of descent). Because between-host dispersal is a key trait for parasite fitness, scientists studying host-parasite interactions have been long interested in understanding the evolution of their transmission mode(s). Most work in this regard has been theoretical, which resulted in the development of the so-called Continuum hypothesis. This theory states that because vertically transmitted parasites require the host to reproduce, the evolution of this mode of transmission will involve reduced virulence (i.e., the effect of infection on host fecundity) in order to allow maximal host viable progeny production. Conversely, the evolution of horizontal transmission does not have this limitation and parasites with this mode of transmission will evolve higher virulence. Therefore, a trade-off between both modes of transmission across a continuum of virulence values is predicted, with each transmission mode located at the extremes of the continuum. Using plant viruses as a focal parasite, here we review existing theory surrounding the Continuum hypothesis and the experimental work testing the predictions of the theory. Finally, we briefly discuss molecular mechanisms that may explain the existence of vertical-to-horizontal transmission trade-offs and potential implications for the management of virus epidemics.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-06:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 23.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 22 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.85.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Israel.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (GARCIA ORDOÑEZ, LUCIA) and Last Author (PAGAN MUÑOZ, JESUS ISRAEL).