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Fitness and eco-physiological response of a chytrid fungal parasite infecting planktonic cyanobacteria to thermal and host genotype variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2018

Ramsy Agha ,
Alina Gross ,
Melanie Gerphagnon ,
Thomas Rohrlack  and
Justyna Wolinska
Ramsy Agha*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, Berlin, 12587, Germany
Alina Gross
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, Berlin, 12587, Germany Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
Melanie Gerphagnon
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, Berlin, 12587, Germany
Thomas Rohrlack
Affiliation:
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432, Ås, Norway
Justyna Wolinska
Affiliation:
Department of Ecosystem Research, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, Berlin, 12587, Germany Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: Ramsy Agha, E-mail: ramsyagha@gmail.com
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Abstract

Understanding how individual parasite traits contribute to overall fitness, and how they are modulated by both external and host environment, is crucial for predicting disease outcome. Fungal (chytrid) parasites of phytoplankton are important yet poorly studied pathogens with the potential to modulate the abundance and composition of phytoplankton communities and to drive their evolution. Here, we studied life-history traits of a chytrid parasite infecting the planktonic, bloom-forming cyanobacterium Planktothrix spp. under host genotype and thermal variation. When expressing parasite fitness in terms of transmission success, disease outcome was largely modulated by temperature alone. Yet, a closer examination of individual parasite traits linked to different infection phases, such as (i) the establishment of the infection (i.e. intensity of infection) and (ii) the exploitation of host resources (i.e. size of reproductive structures and propagules), revealed differential host genotype and temperature × host genotype modulation, respectively. This illustrates how parasite fitness results from the interplay of individual parasite traits that are differentially controlled by host and external environment, and stresses the importance of combining multiple traits to gain insights into underlying infection mechanisms.

Keywords

Host genetic variationparasite traitsspecificitytemperaturetransmissionzoospores
Type
Special Issue Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 145 , Special Issue 10: Parasites and their (endo)symbiotic microbes , September 2018 , pp. 1279 - 1286
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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