Parasite Biology and Host Interactions

A common marking method influences fish-parasite interactions

This study shows that VIE marking in guppies does not affect growth but increases parasite burden and transmission rates over time.

Effects of the nemertean egg predator Carcinonemertes carcinophila (Carcinonemertidae: Monostilifera) on the reproductive output and fecundity of the Florida Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus.

This study examines the impact of the nemertean parasite Carcinonemertes carcinophila on the reproductive output of Florida blue crabs, finding that body mass and embryo stage are stronger predictors than infestation status.

Does host diversity beget microbiome diversity? Effects of zooplankton diversity and composition on environmental and host-associated microbes

The paper investigates how zooplankton diversity and composition affect host-associated and environmental microbiomes, finding contrasting effects on microbiome diversity depending on host species.

Metatranscriptomic surveillance reveals overlooked liver-associated parasite diversity and broad host ranges in small mammals from southern China

The paper uses metatranscriptomics to discover liver-associated parasites in small mammals, finding diverse and widespread taxa including novel lineages and covarying viruses.

Immune variation and host ontogeny constrain pathogen virulence and transmission in a helminth parasite

The paper shows host immune strategies affect parasite transmission timing and magnitude in a helminth parasite, with intermediate parasite burdens maximizing transmission potential.

Parasitic Vectors in Aquaculture: Neobenedenia girellae and Leeches as Potential Transmission Agents for Trypanosoma carassii spectrum and Pathogenic bacteria

This study identifies leeches and Neobenedenia girellae as potential vectors for Trypanosoma carassii spectrum and co-pathogenic bacteria in aquaculture, showing higher transmission efficiency via leeches in controlled experiments.

Differing effects of parasite-parasite interaction types on the spatial epidemiology of co-circulating parasites

This study shows that parasite-parasite interactions affect spatial epidemiology, with within-host interactions having the strongest impact on prevalence and spread.

Global patterns of helminths associated with gelatinous zooplankton: a missing link in marine parasite transmission

This study identifies helminth associations with gelatinous zooplankton across multiple seas, revealing their role as intermediate hosts and their impact on marine parasite biogeography.

The consequences of mixed-mode transmission for disease prevalence

This study examines how mixed-mode transmission affects parasite prevalence, finding that it can increase prevalence only under specific conditions involving different effects on host fitness.

Constitutive and inducible fibrosis explain immune variation among threespine stickleback populations

The paper investigates immune variation in threespine stickleback populations by analyzing fibrosis responses to parasites and environmental factors.

Thermal variability interacts with infection load and the evolution of host-parasite defense

The paper examines how thermal variability influences host-parasite defense strategies and infection dynamics, showing temperature variability can reduce infection prevalence but promote tolerance, increasing net prevalence.

Assessing planktivorous fish as vectors of a plankton parasite

This study shows that stickleback fish can transmit the parasite Pasteuria ramosa to its Daphnia host, contradicting the idea that predators reduce parasite prevalence.

Temperature and ecomorphology linked to blood pathogen incidence in neotropical amphibians

This study links temperature and ecomorphology to blood pathogen incidence in neotropical amphibians, finding contrasting temperature responses and microhabitat influences on infection rates.

Sublethal immune resistance to parasites generates reaction-norm patterns indistinguishable from tolerance

The paper shows that sublethal immune resistance can mimic tolerance in reaction-norm analysis, challenging the distinction between resistance and tolerance.

Host outnumbered: microbiomes and a fungal parasite interact to shape host genotype-dependent survival

The paper tests how microbiome composition affects host survival in Daphnia magna infected with a fungal parasite, finding genotype- and life-stage-dependent effects.

Genome-wide associations of host susceptibility to helminth and blood pathogens in spatially structured rodent populations

The paper identifies genetic variants associated with host susceptibility to helminth and blood pathogens in Bank voles using GWAS, finding significant SNPs linked to non-classical immunity-related pathways.

Diet alters epidemic size and timing in a trophically-transmitted parasite

The paper investigates how diet affects parasite transmission and epidemic dynamics in nematodes, finding that high-quality diets increase parasite abundance during epidemics despite similar fitness reductions across diets.

Coinfections dampen the effects of temperature on host-parasite interactions

This study shows coinfections reduce temperature effects on host mortality in nematodes, but this effect weakens at extreme temperatures and with genetic variation.

Linking land-use change, water quality, and host-parasite dynamics with droplet digital PCR and Bayesian path analyses

This study uses ddPCR and Bayesian path analysis to link land-use changes to parasite dynamics in freshwater ecosystems, finding a positive correlation between deforestation and copepod density.

Helminth coinfection facilitates gammaherpesvirus infection in the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus

This study shows helminth infection increases susceptibility to gammaherpesvirus in wood mice, with anthelmintic treatment reducing viral infection and improved nutrition mitigating this effect.

From exposure to infection: divergent fitness consequences of parasite encounters in a trophically-transmitted system

This study examines the fitness consequences of parasite exposure versus infection in copepods, finding that exposure to sympatric parasites incurs lower fitness costs than exposure to allopatric parasites.

Species-specific responses of helminths to temperature and moisture: long-term and multi-scale analyses in a free-living rodent

The paper analyzes how temperature and moisture affect helminth infections in bank voles over 17 years and multiple spatial scales, finding species-specific responses to climate variables.

155 years after Van Beneden: redescription and first molecular characterisation of the enigmatic type species, Ascarophis morrhuae Van Beneden, 1870 (Nematoda, Cystidicolidae), and comparison to other Ascarophis species in the North Atlantic

The paper redescribes and provides the first molecular characterization of Ascarophis morrhuae, differentiates it from other North Atlantic Ascarophis species, and reviews previous records.

Fitness costs of parasitism depend on fine-scale density and resource availability in a wild ungulate

This study examines how parasitism, density, and resource availability interact to affect survival and fecundity in wild red deer across their lifespan.

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

The paper shows that food availability non-linearly affects host and pathogen traits in a Daphnia magna-Ordospora colligata system, with host fecundity increasing and virulence peaking at intermediate resource levels.

Warmer world gets sicker: meta-analysis reveals strong increase in parasitism at elevated temperatures across diverse host-parasite systems

This study meta-analyzes 775 effect sizes from 124 studies to show elevated temperatures increase parasitism in many host-parasite systems, with varied responses across taxa.

The duration and predictability of heatwaves shape host-parasite interactions under thermal stress

This study investigates how heatwave duration and predictability affect host-parasite interactions under different mean temperature conditions, finding parasite-specific responses to thermal variability.

Juvenile hosts and natal dispersers are protected in the early stages of epidemics

The paper shows that younger hosts have lower parasite prevalence and that dispersing juveniles are less infected during early epidemic stages in C. elegans.

Food Supplementation Reduces Nematode Super-Shedding in a Wild Mammal

This study shows that food supplementation reduces nematode abundance super-shedding in wild voles but not infection likelihood or intensity, and identifies age-related fitness impacts of nematode infection.

Resource supplementation alters host exposure, susceptibility, and infection dynamics across a diverse parasite community

This study shows resource supplementation affects parasite infection dynamics and host behavior in wild wood mice, with mixed effects across 12 parasite taxa.