Host adaptation is the biological process by which a parasite, pathogen, commensal, or mutualistic organism undergoes genetic, phenotypic, and often behavioral changes that increase its fitness in association with a specific host species or host range. It typically involves selection on traits mediating host recognition, attachment, immune evasion, nutrient acquisition, and replication within host tissues or cells. Mechanistically, host adaptation may proceed through point mutations, gene gain or loss, regulatory rewiring, or horizontal gene transfer, and is shaped by host immune pressures, ecological context, and transmission routes, often leading to specialization, host shifts, or emergence of new host-specific lineages.
For anyone who relies on coffee to start their day, coffee wilt disease may be the most important disease you've never heard of. This fungal disease has repeatedly reshaped the global coffee supply over the past century, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 18, 2026
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19
Millions of bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, and a new study from the University of Waterloo explores why and how the fungal disease has devastated bat populations on this continent, while it has ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 12, 2026
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38
In a new study published in Cell, scientists in the Bork Group at EMBL Heidelberg reveal that microbes living in similar habitats are more alike than those simply inhabiting the same geographical region. By analyzing tens ...
Ecology
Feb 9, 2026
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58
A new study by researchers at Kiel University and MPI-EvolBio describes how more efficient protein production drives the adaptation of fungi to the human body, potentially turning previously harmless species into emerging ...
Evolution
Feb 7, 2026
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846
Rove beetles have evolved a neat trick to survive. They cloak themselves in ant pheromones, allowing them to enter and remain undetected within ant colonies. But it comes with a catch. Once a rove beetle lineage evolves this ...
Acid resistance is a crucial property that enterobacteria must possess to withstand host acidic environments during infection, including the gastrointestinal tract and macrophage phagosomes. The facultative intracellular ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 26, 2026
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9
A research team has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding the adaptive strategies of the deep-sea black coral Bathypathes pseudoalternata (B. pseudoalternata) and its symbiotic microbiome. The study has been ...
Ecology
Dec 29, 2025
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23
Gut bacteria evolve rapidly in response to different diets, UCLA evolutionary biologists report in a new study. The researchers found that gene variants that help microbes digest starches found in ultra-processed foods have ...
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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161
The H5N1 avian influenza virus—commonly known as bird flu—has been causing outbreaks in dairy cows in the United States since March 2024. Now, scientists studying the adaptation of the avian H5N1 viruses to cows have found ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 15, 2025
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60
An ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has affected more than 184 million domestic poultry since 2022 and, since making the leap to dairy cattle in spring 2024, more than 1,000 milking cow herds.
Veterinary medicine
Dec 4, 2025
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24
