Search results for "host"
showing 10 items of 1982 documents
The response of an egg parasitoid to substrate-borne semiochemicals is affected by previous experience
2016
AbstractAnimals can adjust their behaviour according to previous experience gained during foraging. In parasitoids, experience plays a key role in host location, a hierarchical process in which air-borne and substrate-borne semiochemicals are used to find hosts. In nature, chemical traces deposited by herbivore hosts when walking on the plant are adsorbed by leaf surfaces and perceived as substrate-borne semiochemicals by parasitoids. Chemical traces left on cabbage leaves by adults of the harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) induce an innate arrestment response in the egg parasitoid Trissolcus brochymenae characterized by an intense searching behaviour on host-contaminated areas. Here we …
Mating Status of an Herbivorous Stink Bug Female Affects the Emission of Oviposition-Induced Plant Volatiles Exploited by an Egg Parasitoid
2019
Insect parasitoids are under selection pressure to optimize their host location strategy in order to maximize fitness. In parasitoid species that develop on host eggs, one of these strategies consists in the exploitation of oviposition-induced plant volatiles (OIPVs), specific blends of volatile organic compounds released by plants in response to egg deposition by herbivorous insects. Plants can recognize insect oviposition via elicitors that trigger OIPVs, but very few elicitors have been characterized so far. In particular, the source and the nature of the elicitor responsible of egg parasitoid recruitment in the case of plants induced with oviposition by stink bugs are still unknown. In …
Variation and covariation in infectivity, virulence and immunodepression in the host-parasite association Gammarus pulex-Pomphorhynchus laevis.
2009
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 infecti…
Food stoichiometry affects the outcome of Daphnia–parasite interaction
2013
Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for growth in consumers. P-limitation and parasite infection comprise one of the most common stressor pairs consumers confront in nature. We conducted a life-table study using a Daphnia–microsporidian parasite model, feeding uninfected or infected Daphnia with either P-sufficient or P-limited algae, and assessed the impact of the two stressors on life-history traits of the host. Both infection and P-limitation negatively affected some life-history traits tested. However, under P-limitation, infected animals had higher juvenile growth rate as compared with uninfected animals. All P-limited individuals died before maturation, regardless of infection. Th…
Differential influence of Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala) on the behaviour of native and invader gammarid species
2000
Although various species of acanthocephalan parasites can increase the vulnerability of their amphipod intermediate hosts to predation, particularly by altering their photophobic behaviour, their influence on the structure of amphipod communities and the success of invader species has so far received little attention. We compared the prevalence and behavioural influence of a fish acanthocephalan parasite, Pomphorhynchus laevis, in two species of amphipods, Gammarus pulex and Gammarus roeseli in sympatry in the river Ouche (Burgundy, eastern France). There, G. pulex is a resident species, whereas G. roeseli is a recent coloniser. Both uninfected G. pulex and G. roeseli were strongly photopho…
Comparative analyses of caste, sex, and developmental stage‐specific transcriptomes in two Temnothorax ants
2020
Abstract Social insects dominate arthropod communities worldwide due to cooperation and division of labor in their societies. This, however, makes them vulnerable to exploitation by social parasites, such as slave‐making ants. Slave‐making ant workers pillage brood from neighboring nests of related host ant species. After emergence, host workers take over all nonreproductive colony tasks, whereas slavemakers have lost the ability to care for themselves and their offspring. Here, we compared transcriptomes of different developmental stages (larvae, pupae, and adults), castes (queens and workers), and sexes of two related ant species, the slavemaker Temnothorax americanus and its host Temnoth…
A manipulative parasite increasing an antipredator response decreases its vulnerability to a nonhost predator.
2009
8 pages; International audience; Trophically transmitted parasites have to deal with the antipredator adaptations of their intermediate hosts. Some of these parasites induce behavioural changes in their intermediate hosts that make them more vulnerable to predation by definitive hosts. However, the adaptiveness of behavioural manipulation also depends on the probability of being eaten by a nonhost predator. Parasites might therefore try to use specific antipredator responses of intermediate hosts to avoid this dead end. We tested this hypothesis using the acanthocephalan Polymorphus minutus and its intermediate amphipod host, Gammarus roeseli. In their natural habitat, uninfected G. roeseli…
Factors influencing infection patterns of trophically transmitted parasites among a fish community: host diet, host-parasite compatibility or both?
2011
20 pages; International audience; Parasite infection patterns were compared with the occurrence of their intermediate hosts in the diet of nine sympatric fish species in a New Zealand lake. Stomach contents and infection levels of three gastrointestinal helminth species were examined from the entire fish community. The results highlighted some links between fish host diet and the flow of trophically transmitted helminths. Stomach contents indicated that all but one fish species were exposed to these helminths through their diet. Host feeding behaviour best explained infection patterns of the trematode Coitocaecum parvum among the fish community. Infection levels of the nematode Hedruris spi…
Social interactions modulate the virulence of avian malaria infection
2013
There is an increasing understanding of the context-dependent nature of parasite virulence. Variation in parasite virulence can occur when infected individuals compete with conspecifics that vary in infection status; virulence may be higher when competing with uninfected competitors. In vertebrates with social hierarchies, we propose that these competition-mediated costs of infection may also vary with social status. Dominant individuals have greater competitive ability than competing subordinates, and consequently may pay a lower prevalence-mediated cost of infection. In this study we investigated whether costs of malarial infection were affected by the occurrence of the parasite in compet…
Investigating candidate neuromodulatory systems underlying parasitic manipulation: concepts, limitations and prospects.
2012
Summary Studies addressing the functional basis of parasitic manipulation suggest that alteration of the neuromodulatory system is a common feature of manipulated hosts. Screening of the neuromodulatory system has so far been carried out by performing ethopharmacological analysis, biochemical quantification of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, and/or immunocytochemistry. Here, we review the advantages and limitations of such approaches through the analysis of case studies. We further address whether the analysis of candidate neuromodulatory systems fits the current view of manipulation as being multidimensional. The benefits in combining ethopharmacology with more recent molecular tool…