A historical perspective of nutrient change impact on an infectious disease in Daphnia

Changes in food quality can play a substantial role in the vulnerability of hosts to infectious diseases. In this study, we focused on the genetic differentiation of the water flea Daphnia magna towards food of different quality (by manipulating C:N:P ratios) and its impact on the interaction with a virulent infectious disease, "White Fat Cell Disease (WFCD)". Via a resurrection ecology approach, we isolated two Daphnia subpopulations from different depths in a sediment core, which were exposed to parasites and a nutrient ratio gradient in a common garden experiment. Our results showed a genetic basis for sensitivity towards food deprivation. Both fecundity and host survival was differently affected when fed with low-quality food. This strongly impacted the way both subpopulations interacted with this parasite. A historical reconstruction of nutrient changes in a sediment core reflected an increase in organic material and phosphorus concentration (more eutrophic conditions) over time in the studied pond. These results enable us to relate patterns of genetic differentiation in sensitivity towards food deprivation to an increasing level of eutrophication of the subpopulations, which ultimately impacts parasite virulence effects. This finding was confirmed via a dynamic energy budgets (DEB), in which energy was partitioned for the host and the parasite. The model was tailored to our study by integrating (1) increased growth and a fecundity shift in the host upon parasitism and (2) differences of food assimilation in the subpopulations showing that a reduced nutrient assimilation resulted in increased parasite virulence. The combination of our experiment with the DEB model shows that it is important to consider genetic diversity when studying the impact of nutritional stress on species interactions, especially in the context of changing environments and emerging infectious diseases.