Temperature effects on parasite prevalence in a natural hybrid complex

Biol Lett. 2011 Feb 23;7(1):108-11. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0616. Epub 2010 Aug 11.

Abstract

Both host susceptibility and parasite infectivity commonly have a genetic basis, and can therefore be shaped by coevolution. However, these traits are often sensitive to environmental variation, resulting in genotype-by-environment interactions. We tested the influence of temperature on host-parasite genetic specificity in the Daphnia longispina hybrid complex, exposed to the protozoan parasite Caullerya mesnili. Infection rates were higher at low temperature. Furthermore, significant differences between host clones, but not between host taxa, and a host genotype-by-temperature interaction were observed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Daphnia / genetics*
  • Daphnia / parasitology*
  • Ecosystem
  • Genotype
  • Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Hybridization, Genetic*
  • Mesomycetozoea / physiology*
  • Temperature*