# Evolutionary Systems Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2024 · $378,974

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
There are fundamental gaps in our understanding of how genome-wide functional genetic
variation in host-parasite interactions is shaped by natural selection, including for humans.
Parasitic helminths (including nematodes) present important selective agents on host traits and
underlying genetic variation. Geographic clines in infection pressure, as helminths are ectothermic
(temperature-sensitive), may drive genomic and phenotypic variation across host populations.
This, in turn, may influence parasite adaptation. However, mechanistically linking agents of
selection with targeted traits and their underlying genetic architecture in hosts and parasites
remains formidably challenging. Only when resolved, will we understand how selection drives
evolution of host resistance and immune system suppression and evasion by parasites. The
investigator’s long-term goal is to gain mechanistic understanding, including of the genetic
architecture of key host and parasite traits. The laboratory’s five-year objective is to identify these
key traits, investigate their genetic basis, and functionally verify genetic variants regulating them.
The core hypothesis is that coevolving hosts and parasites exert selection, pressuring one
another to adapt through genetic and phenotypic changes. The rationale is that populations of
plants and their nematode parasites, as genetically tractable model systems, show spatial and
temporal variation in infection rates, which has a genetic basis, allowing comprehensive
mechanistic studies of this issue. Working off the investigator’s prior research and robust
preliminary data, this hypothesis will be tested through: 1) identifying genome-wide changes
underlying geographic variation in plant resistance to nematode parasitism, and 2) determining
genetic mechanisms and constraints underlying host resistance-breaking in nematodes. An
evolutionary systems biology approach will identify genes, genetic networks and genomic variants
underlying adaptive traits. This will be combined with parasite resurrection ecology and
experimental evolution to study real-time evolutionary change. The investigator showed
previously that such approaches will successfully identify key traits and genes involved in species
interactions. Molecular genetic experiments will link candidate adaptive genetic variants with
functional traits and fitness. This innovative research program will form a key step toward
integrative comprehension of how host-parasite interactions are shaped by selection on
phenotypic and genome-wide genetic variation. It holds promise for uncovering general principles
relating to how host-parasite interactions evolve, helping predict sustainability of human
interventions in shaping such interactions towards better outcomes for humans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10889149
- **Project number:** 5R35GM151194-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Simon Cornelis Groen
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $378,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10889149

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10889149, Evolutionary Systems Biology of Host-Parasite Interactions (5R35GM151194-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10889149. Licensed CC0.

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