Journal
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 9, Issue 20, Pages 11957-11961Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5704
Keywords
fecundity compensation; host-parasite interactions; indirect defense; life-history shift; stress; trade-off
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Funding
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/M011224/1]
- BBSRC doctoral training project summer scholarship
- Department of Zoology David Kirby Memorial Fund
- Leverhulme Trust [RPG-2015-165]
- EPSRC
- BBSRC [1945667] Funding Source: UKRI
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Background Fecundity compensation, increased offspring output following parasite exposure, is widely reported, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. General stress responses are linked to other indirect defenses against parasites, and therefore may be responsible. We challenged strains of Caenorhabditis elegans (wild type and mutants with compromised or strengthened stress responses) with Staphylococcus aureus. Results In all strains except the compromised stress response mutant, we saw elevated offspring production if hosts survived initial parasite exposure. Conclusion We infer that general stress responses are linked with fecundity compensation. These results may explain why trade-offs are not always observed among parasite defense mechanisms.
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