To describe the fact that a particular symbiont-host association results in susceptibility, the term “”GO:0009405 pathogenesis”", a sibling of “”GO:0051701 interaction with host”", can be used. The continuum of symbiosis, encompassing pathogenesis through mutualism Since the focus of

PAMGO was initially on plant-pathogen interactions, check details one of the first challenges was to define the scope of a “”pathogenic”" interaction. Pathogenesis often includes the proliferation or reproduction of a microbe (e.g. bacterium, fungus, oomycete, nematode, protozoan) in a plant or animal host. The extent to which such proliferation and accompanying microbial selleck screening library processes are detrimental (and thus pathogenic) to the host depends on many factors present at the time, including the biotic or abiotic KU55933 mouse environment and the physiology of the host, especially the strength of the defense response.

Also, the identical microbe or host process can be beneficial or detrimental depending on the context. For example, localized cell death associated with the plant defense response known as the hypersensitive response, which is effective against biotrophic and hemibiotrophic pathogens, can be considered beneficial to the host as a whole. The pathogen is curtailed at the point of infection and denied access to any living tissue at the necrotic front. On the other hand, for necrotrophs that live on exudates from dead tissues, the identical process of cell killing is beneficial to the pathogen. These examples illustrate the difficulties confronted by PAMGO and the GOC when considering whether newly developed GO terms that describe processes involved 4��8C in pathogen-host interactions (e.g. “”GO:0044406: adhesion to host”") should be made “”child”" terms (i.e. sub-terms) of the existing GO term “”GO:0009405: pathogenesis”". Because such processes, even in the same microbe, might be part of initiating either a pathogenic or a more neutral interaction depending on the specific circumstances, we decided against such placement in the GO. Instead, we adopted “”symbiosis”" as a general term with its proper broad definition encompassing the whole spectrum of intimate relationships. The GO definition of this

term notes “”mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism are often not discrete categories of interactions and should rather be perceived as a continuum of interaction ranging from parasitism to mutualism.”" This definition also specifies that the word “”host”" refers to “”the larger (macro) of the two members of a symbiosis,”" and that the word “”symbiont”" is used for “”the smaller (micro) member.”" Accordingly, we adopted the word “”symbiont”" to designate the microbe in those GO terms that relate to microbe-host interactions. Once the broad definition of symbiosis had been accepted for use in the GO, the currently existing GO term “”pathogenesis”" became a child of “”symbiosis,”" as did the general interaction terms such as “”GO:0044406 adhesion to host”" (Figure 1).