GS5: Evolutionary Genomics of Host-Pathogen Interactions and Antimicrobial Drug Resistance

Date: October 20, 2022         

Time: 14:00 - 22:00 UTC

Online Program: HERE (please use the "Date" menu dropdown to select the October 20 event).

Abstract submission deadline: CLOSED

Geo region/Timezone: Oceania....NA/SA…Europe

Abstract: The recent influx of high-throughput genomics data is opening new avenues and integrative approaches to study pathogen evolution. This day-long symposium will be divided into two sessions, each focused on one of the strongest selective pressures affecting pathogens: host environment and drug treatment.

• Part 1. Host-pathogen co-evolution through joint genomic analyses. Host-pathogen interactions lead to cycles of mutual adaptation and counter-attack, yet we know very little about the genetic mechanisms underlying this process. What host and pathogen genes interact, how do they interact, how specific are these interactions and what forms of selection operate? Recent technological advances have made it possible to obtain paired host-pathogen genomic, transcriptomic or proteomic data. This opens new opportunities to reveal host-pathogen co-evolutionary dynamics, but also poses methodological, analytical and theoretical challenges. The first part of this symposium will bring together researchers who are pioneering approaches to jointly analyze host and pathogen data in diverse taxa, leading to novel insights into the molecular basis and genetic mechanisms underlying this co-evolutionary process.
• Part 2. Eco-evolutionary genomics of antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR). AMR is a global health issue defined by ecological and evolutionary processes; thus, an eco-evolutionary perspective is a natural way to address the complexity of AMR. In this regard, genome sequencing has been pivotal, for example in tracking the prevalence of resistance genes in nosocomial and non-nosocomial pathogens. Moreover, genomic epidemiology has been applied to study the dissemination of high-risk multidrug-resistant clones of many bacterial pathogens. While experimental evolution, together with genome sequencing, has been employed to evaluate the development of resistance and to assess the fitness costs of mutations conferring AMR. However, none of these scientific areas can grasp the whole picture of AMR. The aim of this part of the symposium is to stimulate a synthesis of the insights generated by these different scientific areas by bringing together researchers working on AMR from different standpoints: population genomics, experimental evolution, and metagenomics. Hopefully, it will provide a forum for discussions towards a more comprehensive view of AMR, both in terms of ecology and evolution.