Resource competition and within-host disease dynamics.
The host organism is a complex mosaic of cell populations that requires adequate supplies of nutrients for maintenance, growth and proliferation. Because many nutrient requirements may be shared by host cells, pathogens and indigenous microflora, all these cells may potentially compete for growth-limiting resources. Ecological theory can explain some of the dynamics commonly seen in host-pathogen interactions; and mechanistic resource-consumer theory provides an instructive framework for viewing the disease process.
Val Smith is at the Dept of Systematics and Ecology, and Environmental Studies Program, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; Robert Holt is at the Dept of Systematics and Ecology, and the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
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