Viruses and promotion of plant genotypic diversity

Genotypic diversity is essential for maintenance of plant species. Van Mölken and Stuefer examine White clover mosaic virus and Trifolium repens and show that the effects of virus infection on plant performance can differ greatly between distinct host genotypes, resulting in changes in relative fitness between virus-infected and control treatments. This suggests that virus infections may be of considerable importance for the maintenance of genotypic diversity in these host plants. FreeLink: PDF version linked here. (Link via authors names will be made free asap.)