TY - JOUR A1 - Franz, Mathias A1 - Armitage, Sophie A.O. A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Subasi, Bengisu S. A1 - Rafaluk, Charlotte T1 - Trade-offs in virulence evolution: a Hierarchy-of-Hypotheses approach N2 - Understanding the evolution of virulence, that is, the harm pathogens cause their hosts, has major and wide-spread repercussions. A central concept of virulence evolution is the so-called ‘trade-off hypothesis’, a seemingly straightforward relationship between virulence and transmission. However, substantial ambiguity in terminology related to this hypothesis threatens progress in the field. To address this, we apply a Hierarchy-of-Hypotheses approach to provide structured, visual representations of ideas linked to this hypothesis. We illustrate that the trade-off hypothesis is a complex set of many different hypotheses and trade-offs, and we clarify ambiguities and biases in commonly used terminology in the literature. Thereby, we hope to facilitate a more precise understanding of what the trade-off hypothesis means, enabling more targeted and precise hypothesis testing. KW - Pathogen virulence KW - Trade-off KW - Trade-off hypothesis KW - Virulence evolution PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2025.01.006 SN - 1471-5007 VL - 41 IS - 3 SP - 188 EP - 195 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-62620 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -