title: Relative reproductive success of co-infecting parasite genotypes under intensified within-host competition.
abstract: In nature, host individuals are commonly simultaneously infected with more than one genotype of the same parasite species. These co-infecting parasites often interact, which can affect their fitness and shape host-parasite ecology and evolution. Many of such interactions take place through competition for limited host resources. Therefore, variation in ecological factors modifying the host resource level could be important in determining the intensity of competition and the outcome of co-infections. We tested this hypothesis by measuring the relative reproductive success of co-infecting genotypes of the trematode parasite Diplostomum pseudospathaceum in its snail host Lymnaea stagnalis while experimentally manipulating snail resource level using contrasting feeding treatments (ad libitum food supply, no food). We found that food deprivation constrained the overall parasite within-host reproduction as the release of parasite transmission stages (cercariae) was reduced. This indicates intensified competition among the parasite genotypes. The genotypic composition of the released cercariae, however, was not affected by the feeding treatments. This suggests that in this system, the relative reproductive success of co-infecting parasite genotypes, which is an important component determining their fitness, is robust to variation in ecological factors modifying the strength of resource competition.
authors: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; ETH Zürich, Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), 8092 Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: otto.seppaelae@eawag.ch.
authors: Otto
authors: O
authors: Seppälä
authors: University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, 40014, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
authors: Katja-Riikka
authors: KR
authors: Louhi
authors: University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, 40014, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
authors: Anssi
authors: A
authors: Karvonen
authors: University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Biological and Environmental Science, 40014, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland; WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Rellstab
authors: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; ETH Zürich, Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors: Jukka
authors: J
authors: Jokela
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060085:Coinfection; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000469:parasitology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D012098:Reproduction; D014200:Trematoda / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Concomitant infections; Host–parasite interactions; Microsatellites; Mixed infections; Multiple infections; Trematoda