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death, while infection of other plant species, significantly

rhododendrons, can result in the non"fatal disease, ramorum diebac#,

which helps to produce spores for transmission by wind and rain.

a#ao 1asuga, a molecular geneticist with the (*+A A* and the lead

author of the paper, together with co"author, %atteo 2arbelotto, an

environmental scientist at the (niversity of )alifornia, Ber#eley,

showed that genetically identical strains of the pathogen isolated from

different plant hosts exhibited massive variation in both their virulence

and their ability to proliferate. Additionally, the researchers

demonstrated that these traits were often stable, preserved long after

isolation from their hosts.

he implications for disease control are profound.

Instead of only having to gene sequence any given strain of pathogen,

scientists may also need to learn how those genes are being expressed

too!something which the study suggests may be the result of

environments the strain inhabited beforehand.

3ot only do our metaphorical bouncers who are charged with #eeping

the peace need to #now the state of their clientele there and then,

they also need to #now where their potential guests went earlier in the

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night. 4i#e trying to get sense out of stumbling, 5am clubbers who are

loo#ing for one last stop off before the last #ebab and bed, this may

not be an easy tas#. $orse, the pathogens, li#e the clubbers, might

have no recollection of their earlier shenanigans.

%ove from plant pathogens to ones that affect animals, specifically

humans!pathogens such as the 636 flu virus!and the full

combinatorial horror is clear to see. 1nowing the specific strain that

any infected human is carrying may not be enough7 for medical staff

to be able to administer the most effective treatment they might also

require #nowledge of the prior &stepping"stone& hosts that the

pathogen has leapt between. In the increasingly globalised village,

where millions of us cross each others paths daily at our temples of

travel!airports, stations, and the li#e!this #nowledge might be next

to impossible to discover.

owever, the good news is that by studying expression patterns of #ey

genes that affect a pathogen's virulence and are indicative of the

previous host species, scientists may be able to artificially reduce the

aggressiveness of our worst microbial enemies. $hat before was set in

stone, under this new scientific light, is now though to be shapeable

clay. 3ot 3ature versus3urture, but 3ature via3urture.

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*o, if you're that nightclub bouncer, remember, it isn't enough to

identify troublema#ers by their genes alone!how they express

themselves is important too.

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