The dominance of coinfecting parasites' indirect effects on host traits.

ABSTRACT: Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) exist when there is heritable variation in one species' ability to alter a second species' traits. For example, parasites can evolve disparate strategies to manipulate host immune response, whether by evading detection or suppressing immunity. A complication arises during coinfection, when two or more parasite genotypes may try to impose distinct IGEs on the same host trait: which parasite's IGE will be dominant? Here, we apply the notion of dominance to IGEs during coinfection. Using a mathematical model we show that the dominance of IGEs can alter the evolutionary dynamics of parasites. We consider a resident parasite population receiving rare immigrants with a different immune manipulation trait. These immigrants' relative fitness depends on resident prev

SUBMITTER: Bolnick DI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9934634 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature