Specificity of resistance and geographic patterns of virulence in a vertebrate host-parasite system.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Host genotype - parasite genotype co-evolutionary dynamics are influenced by local biotic and abiotic environmental conditions. This results in spatially heterogeneous selection among host populations. How such heterogeneous selection influences host resistance, parasite infectivity and virulence remains largely unknown. We hypothesized that different co-evolutionary trajectories of a vertebrate host-parasite association result in specific virulence patterns when assessed on a large geographic scale. We used two reference host populations of three-spined sticklebacks and nine strains of their specific cestode parasite Schistocephalus solidus from across the Northern Hemisphere for controlled infection experiments. Host and parasite effects on infection phenotypes includi

SUBMITTER: Piecyk A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6425677 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature