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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Tractable Mammalian Cell Infections with Protozoan-primed Bacteria
Published on: April 2, 2013
Virulence and local adaptation of a horizontally transmitted parasite
Abstract:
Parasites are thought to maximize the number of successfully transmitted offspring by trading off propagule production against host survival. In a horizontally transmitted microparasitic disease in Daphnia, a planktonic crustacean, increasing geographic distance between host and parasite origin was found to be correlated with a decrease in spore production and virulence. This finding indicates local adaptation of the parasite, but contradicts the hypothesis that long-standing coevolved parasites are less virulent than novel parasites. Virulence can be explained as the consequence of balancing the positive genetic correlation between host mortality and strain-specific spore production.
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