A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Association between host's genetic diversity and parasite burden in damselflies




AuthorsKaunisto KM, Viitaniemi HM, Leder EH, Suhonen J

PublisherWILEY-BLACKWELL

Publication year2013

JournalJournal of Evolutionary Biology

Journal name in sourceJournal of Evolutionary Biology

Journal acronymJ EVOLUTION BIOL

Number in series8

Volume26

Issue8

First page 1784

Last page1789

Number of pages6

ISSN1010-061X

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12177

Web address http://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id:84881030088


Abstract
Recent research indicates that low genetic variation in individuals can increase susceptibility to parasite infection, yet evidence from natural invertebrate populations remains scarce. Here, we studied the relationship between genetic heterozygosity, measured as AFLP-based inbreeding coefficient f, and gregarine parasite burden from eleven damselfly, Calopteryx splendens, populations. We found that in the studied populations, 5-92% of males were parasitized by endoparasitic gregarines (Apicomplexa: Actinocephalidae). Number of parasites ranged from none to 47 parasites per male, and parasites were highly aggregated in a few hosts. Mean individual f did not differ between populations. Moreover, we found a positive association between individual's inbreeding coefficient and parasite burden. In other words, the more homozygous the individual, the more parasites it harbours. Thus, parasites are likely to pose strong selection pressure against inbreeding and homozygosity. Our results support the heterozygosity-fitness correlation hypothesis, which suggests the importance of heterozygosity for an individual's pathogen resistance. © 2013 THE AUTHORS. © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.



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