Tapeworm manipulation of copepod behaviour: parasite genotype has a larger effect than host genotype.

ABSTRACT: Compared with uninfected individuals, infected animals can exhibit altered phenotypes. The changes often appear beneficial to parasites, leading to the notion that modified host phenotypes are extended parasite phenotypes, shaped by parasite genes. However, the phenotype of a parasitized individual may reflect parasitic manipulation, host responses to infection or both, and disentangling the contribution of parasite genes versus host genes to these altered phenotypes is challenging. Using a tapeworm (Schistocephalus solidus) infecting its copepod first intermediate host, I performed a full-factorial, cross-infection experiment with five host and five parasite genotypes. I found that a behavioural trait modified by infection, copepod activity, was affected by both host and parasite g

SUBMITTER: Benesh DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6769145 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature