1. Evidence for carry-over effects of predator exposure on pathogen transmission potential
- Author
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Thierry Lefèvre, Koudraogo B. Yameogo, Kounbobr Roch Dabiré, Frédéric Simard, Olivier Roux, Abdoulaye Diabaté, Benjamin Roche, Amélie Vantaux, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), CNRST, Diversity, ecology, evolution & Adaptation of arthropod vectors (MIVEGEC-DEEVA), Evolution des Systèmes Vectoriels (ESV), Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Unité de modélisation mathématique et informatique des systèmes complexes [Bondy] (UMMISCO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Nord])-Institut de la francophonie pour l'informatique-Université Cheikh Anta Diop [Dakar, Sénégal] (UCAD)-Université Gaston Bergé (Saint-Louis, Sénégal)-Université Cadi Ayyad [Marrakech] (UCA)-Université de Yaoundé I-Sorbonne Université (SU), Transmission-Interactions-Adaptations hôtes/vecteurs/pathogènes (MIVEGEC-TRIAD), O.R. received financial support through a post-doctoral fellowship from the IRD. Experimental infections were supported by the ANR grant no. 11-PDOC-006-01., and We thank the Associate Editor Dr Pejman Rohani and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments that greatly improved the manuscript. We thank Boubacar Nikiema for the RFLP-PCR, Jean Bazié and Raymond Hien for technical help with dissections and Andrea Yockey-Dejean for proofreading the paper.
- Subjects
Male ,life history ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,Predation ,Food chain ,MESH: Malaria, Falciparum/transmission ,MESH: Animals ,Malaria, Falciparum ,Life history ,Predator ,Pathogen ,Research Articles ,General Environmental Science ,media_common ,Ecology ,Transmission potential ,Longevity ,General Medicine ,Anopheles coluzzii ,3. Good health ,carry-over effects ,MESH: Larva/growth & development ,[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,MESH: Anopheles/physiology ,MESH: Longevity ,Larva ,Female ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Food Chain ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Plasmodium falciparum ,MESH: Insect Vectors ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Competition (biology) ,MESH: Predatory Behavior ,Heteroptera ,MESH: Plasmodium falciparum/growth & development ,Anopheles ,parasitic diseases ,Animals ,Humans ,MESH: Food Chain ,host-parasite and predator-prey ,MESH: Humans ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,fungi ,MESH: Anopheles/growth & development ,MESH: Heteroptera/physiology ,MESH: Fertility ,interactions ,host–parasite and predator–prey interactions ,MESH: Male ,Insect Vectors ,non-consumptive effects ,MESH: Larva/physiology ,Fertility ,Predatory Behavior ,MESH: Female - Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that species interactions such as competition and predation can indirectly alter interactions with other community members, including parasites. For example, presence of predators can induce behavioural defences in the prey, resulting in a change in susceptibility to parasites. Such predator-induced phenotypic changes may be especially pervasive in prey with discrete larval and adult stages, for which exposure to predators during larval development can have strong carry-over effects on adult phenotypes. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has examined possible carry-over effects of predator exposure on pathogen transmission. We addressed this question using a natural food web consisting of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum , the mosquito vector Anopheles coluzzii and a backswimmer, an aquatic predator of mosquito larvae. Although predator exposure did not significantly alter mosquito susceptibility to P. falciparum , it incurred strong fitness costs on other key mosquito life-history traits, including larval development, adult size, fecundity and longevity. Using an epidemiological model, we show that larval predator exposure should overall significantly decrease malaria transmission. These results highlight the importance of taking into account the effect of environmental stressors on disease ecology and epidemiology.
- Published
- 2015