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The expression of virulence for a mixed-mode transmitted parasite in a diapausing host

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2014

ELHAM SHEIKH-JABBARI ,
MATTHEW D. HALL ,
FRIDA BEN-AMI  and
DIETER EBERT
ELHAM SHEIKH-JABBARI*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Zoological Institute, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
MATTHEW D. HALL
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Zoological Institute, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
FRIDA BEN-AMI
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
DIETER EBERT
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Zoological Institute, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland Tvärminne Zoological Station, FI-10900 Hanko, Finland
*
*Corresponding author: University of Basel, Zoological Institute, Vesalgasse 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland. E-mail: elham.sheikhjabbari@unibas.ch
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Summary

Many parasites survive harsh periods together with their hosts. Without the possibility of horizontal transmission during host diapause, parasite persistence depends entirely on host survival. We therefore hypothesize that a parasite should be avirulent during its host's diapausing stage. In contrast, the parasite may express higher virulence, i.e. parasite-induced fitness reduction of the host, during host life stages with good opportunities for horizontal transmission. Here we study the effects of a vertically and horizontally transmitted microsporidium parasite, Hamiltosporidium tvaerminnensis, on the quantity and survival of resting eggs of its host Daphnia magna. We find that the parasite did not affect egg volume, hatching success and time to hatching of the Daphnia's resting eggs, although it did strongly reduce the number of resting eggs produced by infected females, revealing high virulence during the non-diapause phase of the host's life cycle. These results also explain another aspect of this system – namely the strong decline in natural population prevalence across diapause. This decline is not caused by mortality in infected resting stages, as was previously hypothesized, but because infected female hosts produce lower rates of resting eggs. Together, these results help explain the epidemiological dynamics of a microsporidian disease and highlight the adaptive nature of life stage-dependent parasite virulence.

Keywords

Daphnia magnaHamiltosporidium tvaerminnensisdiapausehost-parasiteinfectionrock pools
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 141 , Issue 8 , July 2014 , pp. 1097 - 1107
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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