Feeding the host reshapes virulence: nonlinear scaling in a microsporidian pathogen.

Abstract

Resource availability is a central driver of ecological and evolutionary processes, yet its effects on infectious disease and virulence are not fully understood. A key limitation is that many studies consider only a narrow range of resource conditions or a limited subset of host and pathogen traits, potentially obscuring non-linear relationships. Here, we quantify how a gradient of six food levels simultaneously shapes host fitness and pathogen performance in the Daphnia magna- Ordospora colligata system. Across two laboratory experiments, we measured infection rates, pathogen burden, host fecundity, survival, and filtration rates. Increased food availability enhanced pathogen fitness, with both infection rates and spore burden increasing with provisioning. In contrast, host responses were trait-specific: while fecundity increased with food availability, pathogen-induced reductions in fecundity (i.e., virulence) peaked at intermediate resource levels, despite continued increases in pathogen load. This pattern indicates that resource availability alters host tolerance as well as pathogen growth, generating non-linear disease outcomes. Host survival was unaffected by either food provisioning or infection, further demonstrating that resource availability can simultaneously influence host and pathogen traits in different directions. Our results highlight the importance of integrating multiple fitness components across provisioning levels to understand disease dynamics and suggest that ongoing anthropogenic changes in resource availability may alter host-pathogen interactions.