Cytokines are small cell-signaling proteins that play an important role in the immune system, participating in intracellular communication. Four candidate genes of the cytokine family (IL2, IL4, IL13, and IFNG) were selected to identify Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that might be associated with resistance to gastrointestinal endoparasites in goats. A population of 229 goats, F2 offspr...

Infection with an endoparasite frequently alters host behaviour. This study provides the first quantification of larval behaviour in a baculovirus / Lepidoptera system, and attempts to assess the ecological consequences of behavioural modification during infection. Larvae of the moth Mamestra brassicae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) exhibited higher rates of dispersal in the laboratory and field when...

Interactions between parasites and environmental factors have been implicated in the loss of managed Western honey bee (=HB, Apis mellifera) colonies. Although laboratory data suggest that cold temperature may limit the spread of Nosema ceranae, an invasive species and now ubiquitous endoparasite of Western HBs, the impact of weather conditions on the distribution of this microsporidian in the ...

We intended to relate the geographic distribution of ruminant gastrointestinal nematodes in relation to steppe climate (and vegetation). Data are either from literature or from newly acquired/available results. Simple or more sophisticated meteorological indices were used to characterize the climate. Regression analyses were used to correlate climatic factors and presence of endoparasites from ...

Sex-related differences in susceptibility to pathogens are a common phenomenon in animals. In the eusocial Hymenoptera the two female castes, workers and queens, are diploid and males are haploid. The haploid susceptibility hypothesis predicts that haploid males are more susceptible to pathogen infections compared to females. Here we test this hypothesis using adult male (drone) and female (wor...

Introduction Parasites play important roles in ecosystems. Through their interactions with host and vector species, they are capable of changing the behavior population dynamics shape entire communities. Over past years, many studies have acknowledged role parasitism for populations communities discovered regulatory functions vertebrate populations. Although birds a well-studied group vertebrat...

Abstract The family Lamippidae (Cyclopoida) are endosymbionts mainly occurring in shallow water octocorals and records from deep-sea corals few. Here we investigated the relationship between lamippid Gorgonophilus canadensis Buhl-Mortensen & Mortensen, 2004 its host coral Paragorgia arborea . Twenty-one specimens of G. was found inside eight gall-like structures on a P. colony collected 201...

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for worm resistance (WR) and associated characteristics, using linear-threshold animal model via Bayesian inference in single- multiple-trait analyses.Methods: Data were collected from a herd Santa Inês breed sheep. All information with animals submitted natural contamination conditions. data (number eggs per gram fec...