Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
International Degree Program in Climate Change and Sustainable Development, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Parasitology. 2022 Sep;149(11):1515-1520. doi: 10.1017/S0031182022001056. Epub 2022 Aug 4.
Transgenerational plasticity can help organisms respond rapidly to changing environments. Most prior studies of transgenerational plasticity in host–parasite interactions have focused on the host, leaving us with a limited understanding of transgenerational plasticity of parasites. We tested whether exposure to elevated temperatures while spores are developing can modify the ability of those spores to infect new hosts, as well as the growth and virulence of the next generation of parasites in the new host. We exposed to its naturally co-occurring fungal parasite , rearing the parasite at cooler (20°C) or warmer (24°C) temperatures and then, factorially, using those spores to infect at 20 and 24°C. Infections by parasites reared at warmer past temperatures produced more mature spores, but only when the current infections were at cooler temperatures. Moreover, the percentage of mature spores was impacted by both rearing and current temperatures, and was highest for infections with spores reared in a warmer environment that infected hosts in a cooler environment. In contrast, virulence was influenced only by current temperatures. These results demonstrate transgenerational plasticity of parasites in response to temperature changes, with fitness impacts that are dependent on both past and current environments.
世代可塑性可以帮助生物快速应对环境变化。在宿主-寄生虫相互作用的世代可塑性的大多数先前研究中，主要关注宿主，而对寄生虫的世代可塑性的了解有限。我们测试了在孢子发育过程中暴露于高温是否可以改变这些孢子感染新宿主的能力，以及下一代寄生虫在新宿主中的生长和毒力。我们将其天然共存的真菌寄生虫暴露于高温下，在较冷（20°C）或较暖（24°C）的温度下饲养寄生虫，然后使用这些孢子在 20°C 和 24°C 下感染。在较暖的过去温度下饲养的寄生虫产生的孢子更成熟，但仅在当前感染温度较低时。此外，成熟孢子的比例受到饲养和当前温度的影响，并且在温暖环境中饲养的孢子感染较冷环境中的宿主时最高。相比之下，毒力仅受当前温度的影响。这些结果表明寄生虫对温度变化的世代可塑性，适应度的影响取决于过去和当前的环境。
