title: Facilitation through altered resource availability in a mixed-species rodent malaria infection.
abstract: A major challenge in disease ecology is to understand how co-infecting parasite species interact. We manipulate in vivo resources and immunity to explain interactions between two rodent malaria parasites, Plasmodium chabaudi and P. yoelii. These species have analogous resource-use strategies to the human parasites Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax: P. chabaudi and P. falciparum infect red blood cells (RBC) of all ages (RBC generalist); P. yoelii and P. vivax preferentially infect young RBCs (RBC specialist). We find that: (1) recent infection with the RBC generalist facilitates the RBC specialist (P. yoelii density is enhanced ~10 fold). This occurs because the RBC generalist increases availability of the RBC specialist's preferred resource; (2) co-infections with the RBC generalist and RBC specialist are highly virulent; (3) and the presence of an RBC generalist in a host population can increase the prevalence of an RBC specialist. Thus, we show that resources shape how parasite species interact and have epidemiological consequences.
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Evolutionary Biology, and Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JFL, UK.
authors.forename: Ricardo S
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4834-6997
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ramiro
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Evolutionary Biology, and Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JFL, UK.|Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Ashworth Laboratories, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JFL, UK.
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Pollitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mideo
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Evolutionary Biology, and Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JFL, UK.|Centre for Immunity, Infection & Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Ashworth Laboratories, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JFL, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Reece
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D016788:Plasmodium chabaudi / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010967:Plasmodium yoelii / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
keywords: Co-infection; Malaria; Plasmodium chabaudi; Plasmodium yoelii; facilitation; genetically diverse infection; red blood cell; reticulocyte; species interactions; virulence