Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, , Michael Smith Building, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.
Biol Lett. 2013 Apr 10;9(3):20121151. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.1151. Print 2013 Jun 23.
Host-parasite interactions are a key paradigm for understanding the process of coevolution. Central to coevolution is how genetic variation in interacting species allows parasites to evolve manipulative strategies. However, genetic variation in the parasite may also be associated with host phenotype changes, thereby changing the selection on both species. For instance, parasites often induce changes in the behaviour of their host to maximize their own fitness, yet the quantitative genetic basis for behavioural manipulation has not been fully demonstrated. Here, we show that the genotype of the parasitoid wasp Aphidius ervi has a significant effect on where its aphid host Acyrthosiphon pisum moves to die following parasitism, including the likelihood that the aphid abandons the plant. These results provide a clear example of an interspecific indirect genetic effect whereby the genetics of one species influences the expression of a specific behavioural trait in another.
宿主-寄生虫相互作用是理解共同进化过程的一个关键范例。共同进化的核心是相互作用的物种中的遗传变异如何使寄生虫进化出操纵策略。然而，寄生虫的遗传变异也可能与宿主表型变化相关，从而改变两个物种的选择。例如，寄生虫经常诱导宿主行为的变化，以使自身的适应性最大化，然而行为操纵的数量遗传基础尚未得到充分证明。在这里，我们表明，寄生蜂蚜茧蜂的基因型对其蚜虫宿主桃蚜在寄生后移动到何处死亡有显著影响，包括蚜虫放弃植物的可能性。这些结果提供了一个明确的种间间接遗传效应的例子，即一个物种的遗传影响另一个物种特定行为特征的表达。
