Search results for "Parasite"

Data from: Quality attracts parasites: host condition-dependent chemo-orientation of trematode larvae

2014

1. Environmental factors impairing physiological condition of organisms are assumed to predispose them to parasite infections. This is because host immune function is typically condition-dependent. However, poor physiological condition has been reported to reduce host susceptibility to parasites in various systems. 2. We examined whether such an effect can be due to altered exposure of hosts to active parasite transmission stages by investigating chemo-orientation of free-swimming cercariae larvae of a parasite Echinoparyphium aconiatum towards its snail host Lymnaea stagnalis. 3. We used both long-term and short-term feeding treatments to manipulate the body condition and physiological tra…

Data from: Phosphorus limitation enhances parasite impact: feedback effects at the population level

2014

Background: Nutrient deficiency affects the growth and population dynamics of consumers. Endoparasites can be seen as consumers that drain carbon (C) or energy from their host while simultaneously competing for limiting resources such as phosphorus (P). Depending on the relative demands of the host and the parasite for the limiting nutrient, intensified resource competition under nutrient limitation can either reduce the parasite?s effect on the host or further reduce the fitness of the nutrient-limited host. So far, knowledge of how nutrient limitation affects parasite performance at the host population level and how this affects the host populations is limited. Results: We followed the po…

Data from: The parasite’s long arm: a tapeworm parasite induces behavioural changes in uninfected group members of its social host

2015

Parasites can induce alterations in host phenotypes in order to enhance their own survival and transmission. Parasites of social insects might not only benefit from altering their individual hosts, but also from inducing changes in uninfected group members. Temnothorax nylanderi ant workers infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis are known to be chemically distinct from nestmates and do not contribute to colony fitness, but are tolerated in their colonies and well cared-for. Here, we investigated how infected workers affect colony aggression by manipulating the presence of tapeworm-infected workers and analysing whether their absence or presence resulted in behavioural alterations in …

Data from: Learned parasite avoidance is driven by host personality and resistance to infection in a fish–trematode interaction

2016

Cognitive abilities related to the assessment of risk improve survival. While earlier studies have examined the ability of animals to learn to avoid predators, learned parasite avoidance has received little interest. In a series of behavioural trials with the trematode parasite Diplostomum pseudospathaceum, we asked whether sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta) hosts show associative learning in the context of parasitism and if so, whether learning capacity is related to the likelihood of infection mediated through host personality and resistance. We show that animals are capable of learning to avoid visual cues associated with the presence of parasites. However, avoidance behaviour ceased after …

Eye fluke-induced cataract formation in fish: quantitative analysis using an ophthalmological microscope

2004

We examined the parasite-induced cataract formation in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) using slit-lamp microscopy to determine the relationship between cataract intensity and number of Diplostomum spathaceum parasites that were established in the lens. Cataract intensity increased significantly with parasite burden, but was also affected by the pattern of exposure to the parasite cercariae. The slit-lamp methodology proved useful in scoring the cataracts since it provides a 3-dimensional view into the lens and gives an actual picture of the location and intensity of the cataracts, which allows detailed investigations of mechanisms underlying cataract formation in various fish species. P…

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers in the liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica)

2004

PRIMER NOTE; International audience; Six microsatellite markers were isolated from Fasciola hepatica, a re-emerging parasite that causes important veterinary and public health problems. In a sample of 52 liver flukes from a region of hyperendemicity (Bolivian Altiplano), five microsatellite were polymorphic. Our results showed that liver flukes present important genetic variability, suggesting a preferential outcrossing reproduction mode for this hermaphroditic parasite.

Patterns of trunk spine growth in two congeneric species of acanthocephalan: investment in attachment may differ between sexes and species.

2012

SUMMARYAcanthocephalans have evolved a hooked proboscis and some taxa have trunk spines to attach to their definitive hosts. These structures are generated before being used, thus a key question is how investment in attachment could optimally be allocated through the ontogeny. The number and arrangement of hooks and spines are never modified in the definitive host, but it is unclear whether these structures grow during adult development. A comparison of the size of trunk spines between cystacanths and adults of Corynosoma cetaceum and C. australe indicated that spines grow in both species, but only in females, which also had significantly larger spines than males. This sexual dimorphism did…

Inter and intra-guild interactions in egg parasitoid species of the soybean stink bug complex

2002

Abstract – The objective of this research was to evaluate the parasitism behavior of Telenomus podisiAshmead, Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) e Trissolcus urichi Crawford (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) oneggs of Nezara viridula L., Euschistus heros F., Piezodorus guildinii Westwood and Acrosternumaseadum Rolston (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), in no choice and multiple choice experiments. For allparasitoid species, the results demonstrated the existence of a main host species that maximizes thereproductive success. The competitive interactions among the parasitoid species were investigated inexperiments of sequential and simultaneous release of different combinations of parasitoid pairs on thehosts…

Ecological impacts of invasive signal crayfish in large boreal lakes

2012

Modélisation des effets des systèmes de culture sur la dynamique de la plante parasite orobanche rameuse en interaction avec les adventices

2019

Reducing pesticide use is a major challenge in agriculture and involves developing more sustainable methods that rely on non-chemical cropping techniques and biological regulations according to agroecological principles. Branched broomrape (Phelipanche ramosa (L.) Pomel) is a root parasitic plant which infects crops and causes dramatic yield losses worldwide. Managing broomrape is complex because it requires combining several cropping techniques whithin a global weed management strategy because broomrape is also able to infect non-parasitic weeds. The aim of this thesis was to stynthetize knowledge on branched broomrape dynamics in agroecosystems and to aggregate it within a mechanistic mod…