Bacteriophage migration via nematode vectors: Host-parasite-consumer interactions in laboratory microcosms

A tractable model for studying pathogen-host-vector biology is presented to demonstrate that Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes are able to transmit phage from infected to uninfected bacterial populations. The results indicate that virus transmission increases with worm density and host bacterial abundance, however, transmission decreases with initial phage abundance, perhaps as viruses eliminate available hosts before migration could occur.