The impact of a vertically transmitted microsporidian, Nosema granulosis on the fitness of its Gammarus duebeni host under stressful environmental conditions.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Although purely vertically transmitted parasites are predicted to cause low pathogenicity in their hosts, the effects of such parasites on host fitness under stressful environmental conditions have not previously been assessed. Here, we investigate the effects of Nosema granulosis, a vertically transmitted, microsporidian parasite of the brackish water amphipod Gammarus duebeni, on host growth and survival under conditions of host-host competition and limited food. The parasite had no effect on host survival, but caused a reduction in juvenile growth. Stressful environmental conditions also led to a reduction in G. duebeni growth. However, we found no evidence to support the prediction that parasitized hosts would suffer a greater reduction in fitness than uninfected hosts under adverse environmental conditions. We interpret our results in the context of selection for successful vertical parasite transmission.
منابع مشابه
Infection by a vertically-transmitted microsporidian parasite is associated with a female-biased sex ratio and survival advantage in the amphipod Gammarus roeseli.
SUMMARYVertically transmitted parasites may have positive, neutral or negative effects on host fitness, and are also predicted to exhibit sex-specific virulence to increase the proportion or fitness of the transmitting sex. We investigated these predictions in a study on the survival and sex ratio of offspring of the amphipod Gammarus roeseli from females infected by the vertically transmitted ...
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We investigated the prevalence, transmission mode and fitness effects of infections by obligatory intracellular, microsporidian parasites in the freshwater amphipod Gammarus roeseli. We found three different microsporidia species in this host, all using transovarial (vertical) transmission. All three coexist at different prevalences in two host populations, but bi-infected individuals were rare...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Parasitology
دوره 126 Pt 2 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2003