Journal
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
Volume 23, Issue 12, Pages 2648-2655Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02137.x
Keywords
apparent competition; coinfection; mixed larval infection; parasite manipulation; phototaxis; Pomphorhynchus; tragedy of the common
Categories
Funding
- CNRS
- ANR [BLAN07-3_183300]
- Conseil Regional de Bourgogne [9201AAO040S00619]
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Competitive interactions between coinfecting parasites are expected to be strong when they affect transmission success. When transmission is enhanced by altering host behaviour, intraspecific conflict can lead to 'coinfection exclusion' by the first-in parasite or to a 'sabotage' of behavioural manipulation by the youngest noninfective parasite. We tested these hypotheses in the acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus laevis, reversing phototaxis in its intermediate host Gammarus pulex. No evidence was found for coinfection exclusion in gammarids sequentially exposed to infection. Behavioural manipulation was slightly weakened but not cancelled in gammarids infected with mixed larval stages. Therefore, coinfecting infective and noninfective larvae both suffered competition, potentially resulting in delayed transmission and increased risk of mortality, respectively. Consequently, noninfective larva is not just a 'passive passenger' in the manipulated host, which raises interesting questions about the selective pressures at play and the mechanisms underlying manipulation.
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