Context-dependent costs and benefits of tuberculosis resistance traits in a wild mammalian host.

ABSTRACT: Disease acts as a powerful driver of evolution in natural host populations, yet individuals in a population often vary in their susceptibility to infection. Energetic trade-offs between immune and reproductive investment lead to the evolution of distinct life history strategies, driven by the relative fitness costs and benefits of resisting infection. However, examples quantifying the cost of resistance outside of the laboratory are rare. Here, we observe two distinct forms of resistance to bovine tuberculosis (bTB), an important zoonotic pathogen, in a free-ranging African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) population. We characterize these phenotypes as "infection resistance," in which hosts delay or prevent infection, and "proliferation resistance," in which the host limits the spread of

SUBMITTER: Tavalire HF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6308860 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature