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339 results for “Host specificity”

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dryad36/100

Data from: A role for the local environment in driving species-specific parasitism in a multi-host parasite system

The extent and magnitude of parasitism often vary among closely related host species and across populations within species. Determining the ecological basis for this species and population-level variation in parasitism is critical for understanding infection dynamics in multi-host-parasite systems. To investigate such ecological underpinnings of variation in parasitism, we studied Enallagma damselflies host species and their water mite (Arrenurus spp.) ectoparasites in lakes. We first evaluated how host identity and density could shape parasitism. To test the effects of con- and heterospecific host density on parasitism, we used a field experiment with E. basidens and E. signatum. We found that parasitism did not vary with con- or heterospecific density and was determined by host identity alone, with no spillover effects. We also evaluated the potential role of local adaptation and resource availability in shaping parasitism. To do so, we used E. signatum in a reciprocal transplant experiment crossed with a prey resource level manipulation. This experiment revealed that parasitism declined sharply for one host population in its non-local lake, but not the other source population, with no effects of prey levels. This asymmetry implies that damselflies express enhanced defenses against parasitism that are not population specific nor dependent on resource abundance, or that mites developed heightened local host specificity. The results of multivariate modeling from an observational study generally supported these experimental findings: neither host density nor resource abundance strongly explained among population variation in parasitism. Instead, local abiotic conditions (pH) had the strongest relationship with parasitism, with minimal associations with predator density, temperature, and a measure of immune function. Collectively, our findings suggest a crucial role for the local environment in shaping host-parasite interactions within multi-host-parasite systems. More generally, these results show that research at the intersection of community ecology and disease ecology is critical for understanding host-parasite dynamics within natural communities.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

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Drosophila melanogaster hosts coevolving with Pseudomonas entomophila pathogen show sex-specific patterns of local adaptation

Background: In spatially structured populations, local adaptation improves organisms' fitness in their native environment. Host and pathogens can rapidly adapt to their local antagonist. Since males and females can differ in their immunocompetence, the patterns of local adaptation can be different between the sexes. However, there is little information about sex differences in local adaptation in host-pathogen systems. Results: In the current study, we experimentally coevolved four different replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster (host) and Pseudomonas entomophila (pathogen) along with appropriate controls. We used the four host-pathogen coevolution populations to investigate the occurrence of local adaptation separately in males and females of the coevolving hosts. We also assessed local adaptation in pathogens. We set up a reciprocal infection experiment where we infected each of the four coevolving hosts with their local pathogen or non-local pathogens from the other three replicate populations. We found that overall, male and female hosts had better survivorship when infected with local pathogens, indicating that they were locally adapted. Interestingly, males were more susceptible to non-local pathogens compared to females. In addition, we found no fecundity cost in females infected with either local or non-local pathogens. We found no evidence of local adaptation among the pathogens. Conclusion: Our study showed sex-specific adaptation in the coevolving hosts where female hosts had a broader response against allopatric coevolving pathogens with no cost in fecundity. Thus, our results might suggest a novel mechanism that can maintain variation in susceptibility in spatially structured populations.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

dryad36/100

No evidence of bacterial symbionts influencing host specificity in Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

The cotton-melon aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover, is a polyphagous insect pest with many host-specialized biotypes, such as Cucurbitaceae- and Malvaceae-specialized (CU and MA) biotype. Bacterial symbionts were reported to determine host range in some aphids. Whether this is the case in A. gossypii remains unknown. Here, we tested host specificity of CU and MA biotype and compared host specificity between wingless and winged morph within the same biotype, and analyzed the composition of bacterial symbionts. The reproduction of CU and MA biotype reduced by 66.67% and 82.79% respectively on non-native hosts, compared with that on native hosts. The composition of bacterial symbionts was not significantly different between CU and MA biotype, with Buchnera abundance >95% in both biotypes. While, winged morph produced significantly more nymphs than wingless morph on non-native hosts, and<a name="OLE_LINK1"></a> Buchnera abundance in winged morph was only about 10% of that in wingless morph. There seemed to be a relationship between Buchnera abundance and host specificity. We regulated Buchnera abundance by temperature and antibiotics, but did not find that low Buchnera abundance resulted in high reproduction on non-native hosts. We conclude that host specificity of A. gossypii is not controlled by specific bacterial symbionts or by Buchnera abundance.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

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Host plant specificity of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The preference-performance hypothesis explains host specificity in phytophagous insects, positing that host plants chosen by adults confer the greatest larval fitness. However, adults sometimes oviposit on plants supporting low larval success because the components of host specificity (adult preference, plant palatability, and larval survival) are non-binary and not necessarily correlated. Palatability (willingness to eat) is governed by chemical cues and physical barriers such as trichomes, while survival (ability to complete development) depends upon nutrition and toxicity. Absence of a correlation between the components of host specificity results in low-performance hosts supporting limited larval development. Most studies of specificity focus on oviposition behavior leaving the importance and basis of palatability and survival under-explored. We conducted a comprehensive review of 127 plant species that have been claimed or tested to be hosts for the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus to classify them as non-hosts, low performance, or high performance. We performed a meta-analysis to test if performance status could be explained by the properties of neurotoxic cardenolides or trichome density. We also conducted a no-choice larval feeding experiment to identify the causes of low performance. We identified 34 high performance, 42 low performance, 33 non-hosts, and 18 species with unsubstantiated claims. Mean cardenolide concentration was greater in high- than low-performance hosts and a significant predictor of host status, suggesting possible evolutionary trade-offs in monarch specialization. Other cardenolide properties and trichome density were not significant predictors of host status. In the experiment, we found, of the 62% of larvae that attempted to eat low-performance hosts, only 3.5% survived to adult compared to 85% of those on the high-performance host, demonstrating that multiple factors affect larval host plant specificity. Our study is the first to classify all known host plants for monarchs and has conservation implications for this threatened species.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

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Fig. 6 in Molecular characteristics of representatives of the genus Brachylecithum Shtrom, 1940 (Digenea, Dicrocoeliidae) with comments on life cycle and host specificity

Fig. 6 Possibilities of the B. lobatum life cycle

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2015View details →

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Fig. 1 in Host specificity studies on Gynaikothrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) associated with leaf galls of cultivated Ficus (Rosales: Moraceae) trees

Fig. 1. Pronotal posteroangular setae showing variation in length.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2015View details →

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Fig. 2. Four Ficus benjamina plants inside a in Host specificity studies on Gynaikothrips (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) associated with leaf galls of cultivated Ficus (Rosales: Moraceae) trees

Fig. 2. Four Ficus benjamina plants inside a collapsible cage.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2015View details →

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Fig. 1 in Association of bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae) and bats: Richness and host specificity in Western Mexico

Fig. 1. Location of the streblid collection sites between 2012 and 2022.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

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Population-specific responses of an insect herbivore to variation in host-plant quality

Anthropogenic climate change poses a substantial challenge to many organisms, to which they need to respond to avoid fitness reductions. Investigating responses to environmental change is particularly interesting in herbivores, as they are potentially affected by indirect effects mediated via variation in host-plant quality. We here use the herbivorous insect Pieris napi to investigate geographic variation in the response to variation in food quality. We performed a common garden experiment using replicated populations from Germany and Italy, and manipulating host quality by growing host plants at different temperature and water regimes. We found that feeding on plants grown at a higher temperature generally diminished the performance of P. napi, evidenced by a prolonged development time and reduced larval growth rate, body mass, fat content, and phenoloxidase activity. Genotype by environment interactions (G x E) were present in several performance traits, indicating that Italian populations (1) respond more strongly to variation in host-plant quality and (2) are more sensitive to poor food quality than German ones. This may reflect a cost of the rapid lifestyle found in Italian populations. Consequently, German populations may be more resilient against environmental perturbations and may perhaps even benefit from warmer temperatures, while Italian populations will likely suffer from the concomitantly reduced host-plant quality. Our study thus exemplifies how investigating G x E may help to better understand the vulnerability of populations to climate change.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

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Data for: Polymorphism at the nestling stage and host-specific mimicry in an Australasian cuckoo-host arms race

Decades of research have shown that the coevolutionary arms race between avian brood parasites and their hosts can promote phenotypic diversification in hosts and brood parasites. However, relatively little is known about the role of brood parasitism in promoting phenotypic diversification of nestlings. We review field data collected over four decades in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand to assess potential for coevolutionary interactions between the shining bronze-cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus) and its hosts, and how diversification at the nestling stage may be generating different subspecies. The shining bronze-cuckoo is a specialist parasite of a few hosts in the family Acanthizidae. It has diversified into subspecies, of which the nestlings closely mimic the respective host nestlings in each region. Additionally, some cuckoo subspecies have polymorphic nestlings. The Acanthizidae hosts have similar breeding and nesting habits and only moderately effective frontline defences against parasitism at cuckoo egg laying or at the egg stages. However, some hosts have developed highly effective defences at the nestling stage by recognising and ejecting cuckoo nestlings from the nest. As with the cuckoo nestlings, some hosts have polymorphic nestlings. The coevolutionary interactions in each region suggest different evolutionary stages of the arms race in which either the parasite or the host is currently in the lead. The presence of moderately effective defences at the egg laying and egg stages might explain why some hosts do not have defences at the nestling stage. The south-Pacific cuckoo – host systems are excellent models to explore the evolutionary mechanisms driving the diversification at the nestling stage in the coevolutionary arms race between avian brood parasites and their hosts.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

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Data for: Dispersal-limited symbionts exhibit unexpectedly wide variation in host specificity

A fundamental aspect of symbiotic relationships is host specificity, ranging from extreme specialists associated with only a single host species to generalists associated with many different species. Although symbionts with limited dispersal capabilities are expected to be host specialists, some are able to associate with multiple hosts. Understanding the micro- and macroevolutionary causes of variations in host specificity is often hindered by sampling biases and the limited power of traditional evolutionary markers. Here, we studied feather mites to address the barriers associated with estimates of host specificity for dispersal-limited symbionts. We sampled feather mites (Proctophyllodidae) from a nearly comprehensive set of North American breeding warblers (Parulidae) to study mite phylogenetic relationships and host-symbiont codiversification. We used pooled-sequencing (Pool-Seq) and short-read Illumina technology to interpret results derived from a traditional barcoding gene (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) versus 11 protein-coding mitochondrial genes using concatenated and multispecies coalescent approaches. Despite the statistically significant congruence between mite and host phylogenies, mite-host specificity varies widely, and host switching is common regardless of the genetic marker resolution (i.e., barcode versus multilocus). However, the multilocus approach was more effective than the single barcode in detecting the presence of a heterogeneous Pool-Seq sample. These results suggest that presumed symbiont dispersal capabilities are not always strong indicators of host specificity or of historical host-symbiont coevolutionary events. Comprehensive sampling at fine phylogenetic scales may help to better elucidate the microevolutionary filters that impact macroevolutionary processes regulating symbioses, particularly for dispersal-limited symbionts.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

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Spatial Mapping and Host Linking of Mobile Genetic Elements in Complex Microbiomes - Mapping MGEs in oral plaque biofilms at high specificity

We stained for the GFP gene in samples that contained mixtures of plaque and GFP-transformed E. coli. We mapped mefE, an AMR gene located on a plasmid and encoding an antibiotic efflux pump, in the plaque metagenomic data of volunteer A but not volunteer B. To test the efficacy of gel embedding and clearing, we used orthogonal FISH probes, designed to not target any sequence in the plaque. We identified a T7-like prophage via metagenomic analysis and developed probes targeting its capsB gene, which encodes the minor capsid protein. We identified a highly prevalent prophage of the class Caudoviricetes with a large terminase gene, termL, and were able to design a large set of FISH probes to stain in three different colors simultaneously. We identified three non-plasmid AMR genes within metagenome assembled genomes: patA, patB, and adeF.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2023View details →

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