Rhodnius prolixus Life History Outcomes Differ when Infected with Different Trypanosoma cruzi I Strains.

ABSTRACT: The effect of a parasite on the life history of its vector is important for understanding and predicting disease transmission. Chagas disease agent Trypanosoma cruzi is a generalist parasite that is diverse across scales from its genetic diversity to the 100s of mammal and vector species it infects. Its vertebrate hosts show quite variable responses to infection, however, to date there are no studies looking at how T. cruzi variability might result in variable outcomes in its invertebrate host. Therefore, we investigated the effect of different T. cruzi I strains on Rhodnius prolixus survival and development. We found significant variation between insects infected with different strains, with some strains having no effect, as compared with uninfected insects, and others with significantly

SUBMITTER: Peterson JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4559699 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature