Variation and covariation in infectivity, virulence and immunodepression in the host-parasite association Gammarus pulex-Pomphorhynchus laevis. - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Année : 2009

Variation and covariation in infectivity, virulence and immunodepression in the host-parasite association Gammarus pulex-Pomphorhynchus laevis.

Résumé

Parasites often manipulate host immunity for their own benefit, either by exacerbating or suppressing the immune response and this may directly affect the expression of parasite virulence. However, genetic variation in immunodepression, which is a prerequisite to its evolution, and the relationship between immunodepression and virulence, have rarely been studied. Here, we investigated the variation among sibships of the acanthocephalan parasite, Pomphorhynchus laevis, in infecting and in immunodepressing its amphipod host, Gammarus pulex. We also assessed the covariation between infectivity, parasite-induced immune depression and host mortality (parasite virulence). We found that infectivity, the intensity of immunodepression and virulence were variable among parasite sibships. Infectivity and the level of immunodepression were not correlated across parasite sibships. Whereas infectivity was unrelated to host mortality, we found that gammarids that were exposed to the parasite sibships that immunodepressed their hosts the most survived better. This positive covariation between host survival and immunodepression suggests that gammarids exposed to the less immunodepressive parasites could suffer from damage imposed by a higher activity of the phenoloxidase.

Dates et versions

hal-00430425 , version 1 (06-11-2009)

Identifiants

Citer

Stéphane Cornet, Nathalie Franceschi, Loïc Bollache, Thierry Rigaud, Gabriele Sorci. Variation and covariation in infectivity, virulence and immunodepression in the host-parasite association Gammarus pulex-Pomphorhynchus laevis.. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009, 276 (1676), pp.4229-4236. ⟨10.1098/rspb.2009.1299⟩. ⟨hal-00430425⟩
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