Host exposure history modulates the within-host advantage of virulence in a songbird-bacterium system.

ABSTRACT: The host immune response can exert strong selective pressure on pathogen virulence, particularly when host protection against reinfection is incomplete. Since emerging in house finch populations, the bacterial pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) has been increasing in virulence. Repeated exposure to low-doses of MG, a proxy for what birds likely experience while foraging, provides significant but incomplete protection against reinfection. Here we sought to determine if the within-host, pathogen load advantage of high virulence is mediated by the degree of prior pathogen exposure, and thus the extent of immune memory. We created variation in host immunity by experimentally inoculating wild-caught, MG-naïve house finches with varying doses and number of exposures of a single pathogen stra

SUBMITTER: Leon AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6937340 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature