The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence-transmission relationships.

ABSTRACT: Disease outbreaks are a consequence of interactions among the three components of a host-parasite system: the infectious agent, the host and the environment. While virulence and transmission are widely investigated, most studies of parasite life-history trade-offs are conducted with theoretical models or tractable experimental systems where transmission is standardized and the environment controlled. Yet, biotic and abiotic environmental factors can strongly affect disease dynamics, and ultimately, host-parasite coevolution. Here, we review research on how environmental context alters virulence-transmission relationships, focusing on the off-host portion of the parasite life cycle, and how variation in parasite survival affects the evolution of virulence and transmission. We review three i

SUBMITTER: Turner WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8170194 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature