Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as "resistance costs", are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we ...

Within the last few million years, repeated invasions from the North Pacific have brought evolutionarily divergent lineages of Macoma balthica clams into contact in the marginal and inland seas of northern Europe (Strelkov et al. 2007). These divergent M. balthica lineages now co-occur and hybridize extensively, blurring the distinction between the lineages and with some populations best descri...

Selection components analysis was performed in lines of Drosophila melanogaster at three times during substitution backcrossing. The initial two lines were inbred isofemale lines from natural populations in California, and one had the spread wing mutation eagle. The selection components analysis revealed aspects of the genetic structure of the determinants of fitness by demonstrating changes in...

Food resources are complementary for a forager if their contribution to fitness is higher when consumed together than when consumed independently, e.g. ingesting one may reduce the toxic effects of another. The concentration of potentially toxic ethanol, [EtOH], in fleshy fruit increases during ripening and affects food choices by Egyptian fruit bats, becoming deterrent at high concentrations (...

background and aim: an important criterion for success assessment of implant-supported prostheses is marginal fit. vertical and horizontal discrepancy can result in loosening of the prosthetic screw, crestal bone resorption, peri-implantitis and loss of osseointegration. despite careful attention to waxing, investing, and casting, marginal discrepancies are inevitable. the aim of this study was...