Expression of parasite genetic variation changes over the course of infection: implications of within-host dynamics for the evolution of virulence.

ABSTRACT: How infectious disease agents interact with their host changes during the course of infection and can alter the expression of disease-related traits. Yet by measuring parasite life-history traits at one or few moments during infection, studies have overlooked the impact of variable parasite growth trajectories on disease evolution. Here we show that infection-age-specific estimates of host and parasite fitness components can reveal new insight into the evolution of parasites. We do so by characterizing the within-host dynamics over an entire infection period for five genotypes of the castrating bacterial parasite Pasteuria ramosa infecting the crustacean Daphnia magna. Our results reveal that genetic variation for parasite-induced gigantism, host castration and parasite spore loads increas

SUBMITTER: Clerc M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4375866 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature