Transmission of a bumblebee parasite is robust despite parasite exposure to extreme temperatures.

ABSTRACT: All organisms are exposed to fluctuating environmental conditions, such as temperature. How individuals respond to temperature affects their interactions with one another. Changes to the interaction between parasites and their hosts can have a large effect on disease dynamics. The gut parasite, Crithidia bombi, can be highly prevalent in the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, and is an established epidemiological model. The parasite is transmitted between bumblebees via flowers, exposing it to a range of environmental temperatures prior to infection. We investigated whether incubation duration and temperature exposure, prior to infection, affects parasite infectivity. Prior to inoculation in B. terrestris, C. bombi was incubated at 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50°C for either 1

SUBMITTER: Wolmuth-Gordon HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10368942 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature