Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Infection01:20

Infection

7.6K
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.
The chain begins with pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or parasites such as protozoa helminths. These can be present on the skin as transient or resident flora, or they can be acquired from the environment. Identifying and treating the type of infection and...
7.6K
Symbiosis00:58

Symbiosis

27.3K
Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
27.3K
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

57.9K
In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
57.9K
Gene Flow02:39

Gene Flow

34.7K
Gene flow is the transfer of genes among populations, resulting from either the dispersal of gametes or from the migration of individuals.
34.7K
Retrovirus Life Cycles01:10

Retrovirus Life Cycles

45.6K
Retroviruses have a single-stranded RNA genome that undergoes a special form of replication. Once the retrovirus has entered the host cell, an enzyme called reverse transcriptase synthesizes double-stranded DNA from the retroviral RNA genome. This DNA copy of the genome is then integrated into the host’s genome inside the nucleus via an enzyme called integrase. Consequently, the retroviral genome is transcribed into RNA whenever the host’s genome is transcribed, allowing the...
45.6K
Distribution and Dispersion00:54

Distribution and Dispersion

21.6K
To understand intra-specific interactions in populations, scientists measure the spatial arrangement of species individuals. This geographic arrangement is known as the species distribution or dispersion. Highly territorial species exhibit a uniform distribution pattern, in which individuals are spaced at relatively equal distances from one another. Species that are highly tied to particular resources, such as food or shelter, tend to concentrate around those resources, and thus exhibit a...
21.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Modelling the role of the microbiome in antimicrobial resistance across scales.

Nature microbiology·2026
Same author

Evolution of Ivermectin Resistance in the Nematode Model <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>: Critical Influence of Population Size and Altered Emodepside Efficacy.

Evolutionary applications·2026
Same author

The role of the innate immune system in shaping the dynamics of antimicrobial treatment.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Investigating the consequences of the mating system for drug resistance evolution in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2025
Same author

The role of innate immunity, antibiotics, and bacteriophages in the course of bacterial infections and their treatment.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same author

Kinship clustering within an ecologically diverse killer whale metapopulation.

Heredity·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2025

Protocol for Production of a Genetic Cross of the Rodent Malaria Parasites
13:39

Protocol for Production of a Genetic Cross of the Rodent Malaria Parasites

Published on: January 3, 2011

15.1K

Evolution of parasite transmission dispersion.

Hannelore MacDonald1, Sebastian Bonhoeffer1, Roland Regoes1

  • 1Institute for Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland.

Royal Society Open Science
|January 23, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Parasite adaptation to diverse host populations drives high transmission dispersion in epidemics. This adaptation can maintain high transmission even when infections become endemic, especially if virulence varies among hosts.

Keywords:
epidemiologyevolutionparasitesuperspreading

More Related Videos

Propagation of the Microsporidian Parasite Edhazardia aedis in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes
05:29

Propagation of the Microsporidian Parasite Edhazardia aedis in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

Published on: August 13, 2020

5.0K
Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates
13:55

Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates

Published on: January 27, 2019

15.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2025

Protocol for Production of a Genetic Cross of the Rodent Malaria Parasites
13:39

Protocol for Production of a Genetic Cross of the Rodent Malaria Parasites

Published on: January 3, 2011

15.1K
Propagation of the Microsporidian Parasite Edhazardia aedis in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes
05:29

Propagation of the Microsporidian Parasite Edhazardia aedis in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes

Published on: August 13, 2020

5.0K
Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates
13:55

Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates

Published on: January 27, 2019

15.1K

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Mathematical Modeling

Background:

  • Transmission of infectious diseases is often overdispersed, with a small subset of infected individuals causing a majority of new infections.
  • Host heterogeneity, such as variable viral loads (e.g., SARS-CoV-2), is a known driver of transmission overdispersion.
  • The role of parasite adaptation in exacerbating transmission dispersion in heterogeneous host populations remains less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether parasite adaptation to heterogeneous host populations can be an emergent property contributing to increased transmission dispersion.
  • To explore the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite systems under varying host heterogeneity.
  • To provide a framework for understanding how parasite adaptation influences transmission patterns in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a mathematical model based on the Price equation framework.
  • The model integrates epidemiological dynamics (disease spread) with evolutionary dynamics (parasite adaptation).
  • Analysis of a general host-parasite system to capture core principles applicable across various pathogens.

Main Results:

  • Parasite adaptation to heterogeneous host populations significantly drives high transmission dispersion during the early stages of epidemics.
  • Adaptation can sustain increased transmission dispersion at endemic equilibria, particularly when host virulence varies.
  • The study demonstrates that adaptation can amplify dispersion by specializing on highly infectious hosts, reducing transmission from less infectious ones.

Conclusions:

  • Parasite adaptation is a key factor that can emerge and drive substantial transmission overdispersion in heterogeneous host populations.
  • This adaptive process can influence disease dynamics from initial outbreaks through to endemic states.
  • The findings offer a predictive framework for understanding transmission patterns of novel and re-emerging infectious diseases.