Functional consequences of genetic diversity in Strongyloides ratti infections

Parasitic nematodes show levels of genetic diversity comparable to other taxa, but the functional consequences of this are not understood. Thus, a large body of theoretical work highlights the potential consequences of parasite genetic diversity for the epidemiology of parasite infections and its possible implications for the evolution of host and parasite populations. However, few relevant empirical data are available from parasites in general and none from parasitic nematodes in particular. Here, we test two hypotheses. First, that different parasitic nematode genotypes vary in life-history traits, such as survivorship and fecundity, which may cause variation in infection dynamics. Second, that different parasitic nematode genotypes interact within the host (either directly or via the host immune system) to increase the mean reproductive output of mixed-genotype infections compared with single-genotype infections. We test these hypotheses in laboratory infections using genetically homogeneous lines of Strongyloides ratti. We find that nematode genotypes do vary in their survivorship and fecundity and, consequently, in their dynamics of infection. However, we find little evidence of interactions between genotypes within hosts under a variety of trickle- and single-infected infection regimes.