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Mechanisms and consequences of diversity-generating immune strategies

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 17, pages 719–728 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Species from all five kingdoms of life have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to generate diversity in genes that are involved in host–pathogen interactions, conferring reduced levels of parasitism to both individuals and populations. Here, we highlight unifying concepts that underpin these evolutionarily unrelated diversity-generating mechanisms (DGMs). We discuss the mechanisms of and selective forces acting on these diversity-generating immune strategies, as well as their epidemiological and co-evolutionary consequences. We propose that DGMs can be broadly classified into two classes — targeted and untargeted DGMs — which generate different levels of diversity with important consequences for host–parasite co-evolution.

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Figure 1: Untargeted diversity-generating mechanisms.
Figure 2: Targeted diversity-generating mechanisms.
Figure 3: Anti-diversity-generating mechanism strategies.

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Acknowledgements

E.R.W. and A.B. acknowledge the Natural Environment Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Royal Society, the Leverhulme Trust, the Wellcome Trust, the European Research Council and the AXA research fund for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosciences, University of Exeter, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Edze R. Westra, David Sünderhauf, Mariann Landsberger & Angus Buckling

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  1. Edze R. Westra
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  2. David Sünderhauf
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Contributions

E.R.W., D.S. and M.L. researched data for the article, contributed to discussion of the content, wrote the article and reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission. A.B. contributed to discussion of the content and reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Edze R. Westra.

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PowerPoint slides

Glossary

Monoculture effect

The increased incidence of diseases in monocultures of the same crop.

Indels

The insertion or deletion of bases in the DNA of an organism.

Transposable element

A DNA sequence that can mobilize to a new position within the genome.

Genetic drift

A change in allele frequencies as a result of the random sampling of gametes that form the next generation.

Parthenogenic

Reproducing in an asexual manner.

Germinal centres

Sites within secondary lymphoid tissue where B cell proliferation, selection and maturation take place during antibody responses.

CRISPR escape phage

Phage that acquire mutations at positions in the protospacer (the sequence matching the CRISPR spacer) or the protospacer adjacent motif (a short DNA sequence required for CRISPR activity) that allow them to overcome CRISPR-Cas immunity.

Arms-race dynamics

(ARD). Co-evolutionary dynamics that are characterized by the increase of both host resistance and pathogen infectivity ranges: hosts evolve resistance to a broader range of pathogen genotypes and pathogens evolve infectivity to a broader range of host genotypes.

Fluctuating selection dynamics

(FSD). Co-evolutionary dynamics that are characterized by fluctuations in host and pathogen genotypes owing to frequency dependent selection, whereby the fitness of host genotypes is inversely correlated with their frequency in the population.

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Westra, E., Sünderhauf, D., Landsberger, M. et al. Mechanisms and consequences of diversity-generating immune strategies. Nat Rev Immunol 17, 719–728 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2017.78

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