Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä P.O. Box 35, FI-40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Ecol Evol. 2013 Jul;3(7):2116-27. doi: 10.1002/ece3.621. Epub 2013 Jun 4.
Characterizing genetic variation in parasite transmission traits and its contribution to parasite vigor is essential for understanding the evolution of parasite life-history traits. We measured genetic variation in output, activity, survival, and infection success of clonal transmission stages (cercaria larvae) of a complex life cycle parasite (Diplostomum pseudospathaceum). We further tested if variation in host nutritional stage had an effect on these traits by keeping hosts on limited or ad libitum diet. The traits we measured were highly variable among parasite genotypes indicating significant genetic variation in these life-history traits. Traits were also phenotypically variable, for example, there was significant variation in the measured traits over time within each genotype. However, host nutritional stage had no effect on the parasite traits suggesting that a short-term reduction in host resources was not limiting the cercarial output or performance. Overall, these results suggest significant interclonal and phenotypic variation in parasite transmission traits that are not affected by host nutritional status.
描述寄生虫传播特征的遗传变异及其对寄生虫活力的贡献，对于理解寄生虫生活史特征的进化至关重要。我们测量了具有复杂生命周期寄生虫（双腔吸虫）的无性繁殖阶段（尾蚴幼虫）的输出、活性、存活和感染成功率的遗传变异。我们进一步通过限制或自由采食来检测宿主营养阶段的变化对这些特征的影响。我们测量的特征在寄生虫基因型之间高度可变，表明这些生活史特征存在显著的遗传变异。特征也具有表型变异性，例如，在每个基因型内，随着时间的推移，在测量的特征上存在显著的变化。然而，宿主营养阶段对寄生虫特征没有影响，这表明宿主资源的短期减少并没有限制尾蚴的产出或性能。总的来说，这些结果表明寄生虫传播特征存在显著的种间和表型变异，而不受宿主营养状态的影响。
