title: Density-dependence and within-host competition in a semelparous parasite of leaf-cutting ants.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parasite heterogeneity and within-host competition are thought to be important factors influencing the dynamics of host-parasite relationships. Yet, while there have been many theoretical investigations of how these factors may act, empirical data is more limited. We investigated the effects of parasite density and heterogeneity on parasite virulence and fitness using four strains of the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae, and its leaf-cutting ant host Acromyrmex echinatior as the model system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The relationship between parasite density and infection was sigmoidal, with there being an invasion threshold for an infection to occur (an Allee effect). Although spore production was positively density-dependent, parasite fitness decreased with increasing parasite density, indicating within-host scramble competition. The dynamics differed little between the four strains tested. In mixed infections of three strains the infection-growth dynamics were unaffected by parasite heterogeneity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strength of within-host competition makes dispersal the best strategy for the parasite. Parasite heterogeneity may not have effected virulence or the infection dynamics either because the most virulent strain outcompeted the others, or because the interaction involved scramble competition that was impervious to parasite heterogeneity. The dynamics observed may be common for virulent parasites, such as Metarhizium, that produce aggregated transmission stages. Such parasites make useful models for investigating infection dynamics and the impact of parasite competition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. whughes@usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: William O H
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Klaus S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Line V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Ugelvig
authors.forename: Dorthe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: Jacobus J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Boomsma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000469:parasitology*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity