Effects Of Parasite Exposure Research Articles

Mesoscale spatiotemporal variability in a complex host-parasite system influenced by intermediate host body size.

BackgroundParasites are essential components of natural communities, but the factors that generate skewed distributions of parasite occurrences and abundances across host populations are not well understood.MethodsHere, we analyse at a seascape scale the spatiotemporal relationships of parasite exposure and host body-size with the proportion of infected hosts (i.e., prevalence) and aggregation of parasite burden across ca. 150 km of the coast and over 22 months. We predicted that the effects of parasite exposure on prevalence and aggregation are dependent on host body-sizes. We used an indirect host-parasite interaction in which migratory seagulls, sandy-shore molecrabs, and an acanthocephalan worm constitute the definitive hosts, intermediate hosts, and endoparasite, respectively. In such complex systems, increments in the abundance of definitive hosts imply increments in intermediate hosts’ exposure to the parasite’s dispersive stages.ResultsLinear mixed-effects models showed a significant, albeit highly variable, positive relationship between seagull density and prevalence. This relationship was stronger for small (cephalothorax length >15 mm) than large molecrabs (<15 mm). Independently of seagull density, large molecrabs carried significantly more parasites than small molecrabs. The analysis of the variance-to-mean ratio of per capita parasite burden showed no relationship between seagull density and mean parasite aggregation across host populations. However, the amount of unexplained variability in aggregation was strikingly higher in larger than smaller intermediate hosts. This unexplained variability was driven by a decrease in the mean-variance scaling in heavily infected large molecrabs.ConclusionsThese results show complex interdependencies between extrinsic and intrinsic population attributes on the structure of host-parasite interactions. We suggest that parasite accumulation—a characteristic of indirect host-parasite interactions—and subsequent increasing mortality rates over ontogeny underpin size-dependent host-parasite dynamics.

Two threats at once: encounters with predator cues alter host life-history and morphological responses to parasite spores

Parasites and predators are ubiquitous threats in every ecosystem. Host and prey species, respectively, have evolved effective protective mechanisms which are assumed to involve costs. In this study, we analyzed potential interactions between both threats. We exposed waterfleas (Daphnia longicephala) simultaneously to parasite spores (the yeast Metschnikowia) and cues from predatory notonectids (Notonecta glauca). In response to the parasite, D. longicephala had a delayed maturation time and produced less and smaller offspring, even though the parasite developed no spores. This suggests that hosts can successfully fight off the parasite invoking defensive costs. Some of these effects were altered or even reversed by the presence of predator cues. For example, time to maturity was further delayed when the Daphnia were exposed to both threats than under parasite stress alone. In addition, more offspring were produced in the presence of both threats, although parasites alone reduced their number. However, there was no effect of parasite exposure on the expression of morphological defenses. Our results imply that the impact of parasites on host species depends strongly on the presence of further threats. Similar types of experimental approaches may enhance our understanding of the effects of multiple stressors in natural systems.

Maternal effects reduce oxidative stress in female nestlings under high parasite load

Mothers can adjust the phenotype of their offspring to the local environment through a modification of their egg investment and/or nestling provisioning. However, offspring health may be severely impaired if the conditions experienced by nestlings do not match with those anticipated by the mother. If maternal effects differentially affect the sexes or if one sex is more strongly affected by an environmental stressor, fitness benefits may also differ between male and female offspring. Here, we study maternal effects in male and female great tit Parus major nestlings by means of an ectoparasite treatment before egg‐laying combined with a partial cross‐foster experiment between broods of infested and uninfested nests. Nestlings that were raised in their own nest experienced the same conditions before and after cross‐fostering (either in parasite infested or uninfested nests), while cross‐fostered ones experienced different conditions (either changing from infested to uninfested or the other way around). We measured effects on nestling plasma levels of oxidative stress [reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) and total antioxidant capacity (OXY)], body condition (body size and mass) and post‐fledging survival. Daughters, but not sons, from matching conditions showed the lowest ROM and high OXY levels when exposed to parasites, while there was no effect of parasite exposure in any of both sexes in case of a mismatch. In contrast, body condition and post‐fledging survival were not (or only slightly) affected by any of the experimental treatments. Results of this study show that maternal effects can affect oxidative stress levels of nestlings in a sex‐specific way and that the outcome depends on the exposure to environmental stressors, such as parasites.

Experimental Exposure of Helisoma trivolvis and Biomphalaria glabrata (Gastropoda) to Ribeiroia ondatrae (Trematoda)

Experimental infections provide an important foundation for understanding host responses to parasites. While infections with Ribeiroia ondatrae cause mortality and malformations in a wide range of amphibian second intermediate host species, little is known about how the parasite affects its snail first intermediate hosts or even what species can support infection. In this study, we experimentally exposed Helisoma trivolvis, a commonly reported host of R. ondatrae, and Biomphalaria glabrata, a confamilial snail known to host Ribeiroia marini, to increasing concentrations of embryonated eggs of R. ondatrae obtained from surrogate definitive hosts. Over the course of 8 wk, we examined the effect of parasite exposure on infection status, time-to-cercariae release, host size, and mortality of both snail species. Helisoma trivolvis was a highly competent host for R. ondatrae infection, with over 93% infection in all exposed snails, regardless of egg exposure level. However, no infections were detected among exposed B. glabrata, despite previous accounts of this snail hosting a congener parasite. Among exposed H. trivolvis, high parasite exposure reduced growth, decreased time-to-cercariae release, and caused marginally significant increases in mortality. Interestingly, while B. glabrata snails did not become infected with R. ondatrae, individuals exposed to 650 R. ondatrae eggs grew less rapidly than unexposed snails, suggesting a sub-lethal energetic cost associated with parasite exposure. Our results highlight the importance of using experimental infections to understand the effects of parasite exposure on host- and non-host species, each of which can be affected by exposure.

High temperature enhances host pathology in a snail–trematode system: possible consequences of climate change for the emergence of disease

Summary1. Disease severity may be altered by the differential responses of hosts and parasites to rising temperatures leading to an increase or reduction in disease. The net effect of climate change on emerging diseases will reflect the effects of temperature on all life history stages of both hosts and parasites.2. To explore how climate change differentially influences hosts and parasites, we studied the effect of increasing temperatures on different life stages of the multi‐host trematode parasite Ribeiroia ondatrae, which has been linked to the emerging phenomenon of amphibian limb malformations, and its snail intermediate host Planorbella trivolvis. We determined the effects of temperature on the development of R. ondatrae eggs and redia larvae and the effects of parasite exposure (exposed and sham‐exposed), temperature (13, 20, and 26 °C) and their interaction on snail host vital rates, including growth, mortality and reproduction.3. Ribeiroia eggs developed four times faster at 26 °C than at 17 °C and did not develop at 12 °C. Higher temperatures increased snail growth, egg production and mortality. Infection interacted with temperature to enhance the growth of infected snails while reducing their fecundity at 26 °C. These results suggest that pathology associated with infection is amplified at higher temperatures.4. The timing of interactions between R. ondatrae and P. trivolvis may be influenced by their physiological responses to temperature. Temperature‐driven increases in the growth of infected snails coupled with the cessation of parasite development at lower temperatures suggest that warming temperatures will change host–parasite dynamics. Taken together, these results indicate that future climate change could alter parasite abundance and pathology by creating a ‘phenological mismatch’ between snail hosts and parasites, potentially leading to infection of both snail and amphibian hosts in earlier and, in the case of amphibians, more vulnerable stages of development.