Journal
TRENDS IN PARASITOLOGY
Volume 27, Issue 5, Pages 197-203Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2011.01.004
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NERC
- Wellcome Trust
Ask authors/readers for more resources
African trypanosomes produce different specialized stages for within-host replication and between-host transmission and therefore face a resource allocation trade-off between maintaining the current infection (survival) and investment into transmission (reproduction). Evolutionary theory predicts the resolution of this trade-off will significantly affect virulence and infectiousness. The application of life history theory to malaria parasites has provided novel insight into their strategies for survival and reproduction; how this framework can now be applied to trypanosomes is discussed. Specifically, predictions for how parasites trade-off investment in survival and transmission in response to variation in the within-host environment are outlined. An evolutionary approach has the power to explain why patterns of investment vary between strains and during infections, giving important insights into parasite biology.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available