Host-parasite evolution in male-haploid hosts: an individual based network model

Abstract

Host-parasite co-evolution is a key component of the Red Queen Hypothesis (RQH). The RQH currently being one of the main hypotheses describing the evolution of sex and recombination. However, most analyses in this area have either ignored parasite transmission or included it either with mean field or simple frequency based models. Moreover models have rarely addressed the issue of male haploid species. We here use agent based models to qualify the interactions between host- and parasite-based transmission parameters and virulence comparing diploid with male-haploid species. We found diploid hosts to have a higher fitness under the inverse matching allele mode compared to male haplodiploid hosts which in turn have a higher fitness under the matching allele model . Selection for recombination was rare but whenever selection for recombination was evident (<6.6 %), the resulting recombination rates were both consistently higher and more frequent in male haploids.