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Infection01:20

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When a pathogen enters the body and reproduces, it can cause an infection, damage body cells, and cause illness symptoms that eventually lead to disease. Therefore, its prevention requires breaking the chain of infection.
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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Environmental Persistence Influences Infection Dynamics for a Butterfly Pathogen.

Dara A Satterfield1, Sonia Altizer1, Mary-Kate Williams2

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Parasitology
  • Insect Pathology

Background:

  • Pathogen transmission often relies on environmental persistence of dormant stages.
  • Understanding abiotic factors influencing pathogen survival is key to predicting infection risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the environmental transmission dynamics of Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (O.e.) in monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).
  • To determine the persistence and infectivity of O.e. spores under natural environmental conditions.
  • To model the impact of spore persistence on O.e. infection prevalence and monarch population size.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental exposure of O.e. spores to natural environmental conditions to assess infectivity over time.
  • Development of a mechanistic model to simulate O.e. spore persistence and its effects on infection dynamics.
  • Analysis of model outputs to estimate required spore viability periods for increased infection prevalence.

Main Results:

  • O.e. spores maintained high infectivity for at least 16 days in the environment, though with reduced parasite loads.
  • Longer spore persistence generally led to higher infection prevalence and slightly decreased monarch population sizes.
  • A minimum of 3 weeks of spore viability is needed for increased prevalence during the breeding season, and over 11 weeks to match wild infection levels.

Conclusions:

  • The transmission stages of O.e. are long-lived, a necessary factor for its persistence in monarch butterfly populations.
  • Environmental persistence significantly influences the infection dynamics and spread of this butterfly parasite.
  • The study provides a valuable modeling framework for future research on ecologically important insect pathogens.