Can pathogens optimize both transmission and dispersal by exploiting sexual dimorphism in their hosts?
Biol Lett
; 15(6): 20190180, 2019 06 28.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31213141
ABSTRACT
Pathogens often rely on their host for dispersal. Yet, maximizing fitness via replication can cause damage to the host and an associated reduction in host movement, incurring a trade-off between transmission and dispersal. Here, we test the idea that pathogens might mitigate this trade-off between reproductive fitness and dispersal by taking advantage of sexual dimorphism in their host, tailoring responses separately to males and females. Using experimental populations of Daphnia magna and its bacterial pathogen Pasteuria ramosa as a test-case, we find evidence that this pathogen can use male hosts as a dispersal vector, and the larger females as high-quality resource patches for optimized production of transmission spores. As sexual dimorphism in dispersal and body size is widespread across the animal kingdom, this differential exploitation of the sexes by a pathogen might be an unappreciated phenomenon, possibly evolved in various systems.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Caracteres Sexuales
/
Pasteuria
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Biol Lett
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia