Search results for "Parasite"
showing 10 items of 827 documents
Are elicitins cryptograms in plant-oomycete communications?
1999
Stimulation of plant natural defenses is an important challenge in phytoprotection prospects. In that context, elicitins, which are small proteins secreted by Phytophthora and Pythium species, have been shown to induce a hypersensitive-like reaction in tobacco plants. Moreover, these plants become resistant to their pathogens, and thus this interaction constitutes an excellent model to investigate the signaling pathways leading to plant resistance. However, most plants are not reactive to elicitins, although they possess the functional signaling pathways involved in tobacco responses to elicitin. The understanding of factors involved in this reactivity is needed to develop agronomic applica…
Origin of the natural variation in the storage of dietary carotenoids in freshwater amphipod crustaceans
2020
16 pages; International audience; Carotenoids are diverse lipophilic natural pigments which are stored in variable amounts by animals. Given the multiple biological functions of carotenoids, such variation may have strong implications in evolutionary biology. Crustaceans such as Gammarus amphipods store large amounts of these pigments and inter-population variation occurs. While differences in parasite selective pressure have been proposed to explain this variation, the contribution of other factors such as genetic differences in the gammarid ability to assimilate and/or store pigments, and the environmental availability of carotenoids cannot be dismissed. This study investigates the relati…
Interspecific differences in carotenoid content and sensitivity to UVB radiation in three acanthocephalan parasites exploiting a common intermediate …
2011
9 pages; International audience; Few endoparasite species are pigmented. Acanthocephalans are an exception however, with several species being characterised by yellow to orange colouration both at the immature (cystacanth) and adult stages. However, the functional and adaptive significance of carotenoid-based colourations in acanthocephalans remains unclear. One possibility is that the carotenoid content of acanthocephalan cystacanths acts as a protective device against ultra-violet radiation (UVR) passing through the translucent cuticle of their crustacean hosts. Indeed, acanthocephalans often bring about behavioural changes in their aquatic intermediate hosts that can increase their expos…
Interaction of a host plant and its holoparasite: effects of previous selection by the parasite
2001
If parasites decrease the fitness of their hosts one could expect selection for host traits (e.g. resistance and tolerance) that decrease the negative effects of parasitic infection. To study selection caused by parasitism, we used a novel study system: we grew host plants (Urtica dioica) that originated from previously parasitized and unparasitized natural populations (four of each) with or without a holoparasitic plant (Cuscuta europaea). Infectivity of the parasite (i.e. qualitative resistance of the host) did not differ between the two host types. Parasites grown with hosts from parasitized populations had lower performance than parasites grown with hosts from unparasitized populations,…
Experimental inhibition of nitric oxide increases Plasmodium relictum (lineage SGS1) parasitaemia.
2012
7 pages; International audience; Malaria is a widespread vector-borne disease infecting a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates including reptiles, birds and mammals. In addition to being one of the most deadly infectious diseases for humans, malaria is a threat to wildlife. The host immune system represents the main defence against malaria parasites. Identifying the immune effectors involved in malaria resistance has therefore become a major focus of research. However, this has mostly involved humans and animal models (rodents) and how the immune system regulates malaria progression in non-model organisms has been largely ignored. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of…
Immunity, resistance and tolerance in bird-parasite interactions.
2013
12 pages; International audience; Interacting pathogens and hosts have evolved reciprocal adaptations whose function is to allow host exploitation (from the pathogen stand point) or minimize the cost of infection (from the host stand point). Once infected, two strategies are offered to the host: parasite clearing (resistance) or withstanding the infection while paying a low fitness cost (tolerance). In both cases, the immune system plays a central role. Interestingly, whatever the defence strategy adopted by the host, this is likely to have an effect on parasite evolution. Given their short generation time and large population size, parasites are expected to rapidly adapt to the environment…
Myosporidium ladogensis n. comb. in burbot Lota lota from Finland: fine structure and microsporidian taxonomy.
2020
Infections with microsporidian parasites are described in skeletal muscle of burbot Lota lota from Lake Haukivesi, Finland. Infected myocytes contained spores within sporophorous vesicles (SPVs) in contact with host cell cytoplasm, similar to Pleistophora ladogensis in L. lota and smelt Osmerus eperlanus in western Russia and northern Germany. Analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences indicated identity with Myosporidium spraguei in burbot and pike-perch from this lake. The latter is considered a junior synonym of P. ladogensis. Phylogenetic analysis of SSU rRNA sequences resolved the burbot parasite apart from a clade containing the type species P. typicalis, but to…
Differential influence of two acanthocephalan parasites on the antipredator behaviour of their common intermediate host
2007
7 pages; International audience; Fish acanthocephalans can modify the antipredator behaviour of their intermediate hosts in response to cues from fish predators. However, it is still unclear whether such behavioural changes are adaptive, or are just the consequence of infection. We addressed this question through studying two acanthocephalans, Pomphorhynchus laevis and Polymorphus minutus, and their intermediate host, the amphipod Gammarus pulex. Pomphorhynchus laevis completes its cycle in a freshwater fish, whereas P. minutus exploits waterbirds as final hosts.We first assessed vulnerability of infected and uninfected gammarids to predation by bullheads, Cottus gobio. Pomphorhynchus laevi…
Is the host or the parasite the most locally adapted in an amphipod–acanthocephalan relationship? A case study in a biological invasion context
2007
8 pages; International audience; Manipulative endoparasites with complex life cycles can alter their intermediate host immunity and behaviour in ways that increase survival probability within the host body cavity and enhance successful transmission to the definitive host. These parasitic manipulations are variable among and within parasite species and may result from co-evolutionary processes, in which the parasite is constrained for adaptation to the local intermediate host. Hence, arrival of a new host species in a local host population may promote local parasite maladaptation. This study tested the occurrence of local adaptation in two distantly located populations of the acanthocephalan…
Between-population Similarity in Intestinal Parasite Community Structure of Pike (Esox Lucius)—Effects of Distance and Historical Connections
2009
The effect of geographical distance on similarity in parasite communities of freshwater fish has received considerable attention in recent years, and it has become evident that these apparently simple relationships are influenced by, among other things, colonization ability of parasites and degree of connectivity between the populations. In the present paper, we explored qualitative and quantitative similarity in the intestinal parasite communities of pike (Esox lucius) in a particular system where previously interconnected groups of lakes became isolated ca. 8,400 yr ago. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find differences in similarity between the lake groups or a negative effect of…