Parasite-induced changes in nitrogen isotope signatures of host tissues.
To estimate isotopic changes caused by trematode parasites within a host, we investigated changes in the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis infected by trematode larvae. We measured carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes within the foot, gonad, and hepatopancreas of both infected and uninfected snails. There was no significant difference in the delta13C and delta15N values of foot and gonad between infected and uninfected snails; thus, trematode parasite infections may not cause changes in snail diets. However, in the hepatopancreas, delta15N values were significantly higher in infected than in uninfected snails. The 15N enrichment in the hepatopancreas of infected snails is caused by the higher 15N ratio in parasite tissues. Using an isotope-mixing model, we roughly estimated that the parasites in the hepatopancreas represented from 0.8 to 3.4% of the total snail biomass, including the shell.
Doi
Hideyuki
H
Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1, Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan. hdoi@u.washington.edu
Yurlova
Natalia I
NI
Vodyanitskaya
Svetlana N
SN
Kikuchi
Eisuke
E
Shikano
Shuichi
S
Yadrenkina
Elena N
EN
Zuykova
Elena I
EI
D000818:Animals; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D004032:Diet; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D043143:Hepatopancreas / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000469:parasitology*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D033661:Oocysts / Q000502:physiology; D045483:Rivers; D012800:Siberia; D014200:Trematoda / Q000502:physiology*
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes