Linked Life Data

18171155

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18171155

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-1-3
pubmed:abstractText
Numerous host qualities can modulate parasite fitness, and among these, host nutritive resources and immunity are of prime importance. Indeed, parasite fitness increases with the amount of nutritive resources extracted from the host body and decreases with host immune response. To maximize fitness, parasites have therefore to balance these two host components. Yet, because host nutritive resources and immunity both increase with host body condition, it is unclear whether parasites perform better on hosts in prime, intermediate, or poor condition. We investigated blood meal size and survival of the ectoparasitic louse fly Crataerina melbae in relation to body condition and cutaneous immune response of their Alpine swift (Apus melba) nestling hosts. Louse flies took a smaller blood meal and lived a shorter period of time when feeding on nestlings that were experimentally food deprived or had their cutaneous immune response boosted with methionine. Consistent with these results, louse fly survival was the highest when feeding on nonexperimental nestlings in intermediate body condition. Our findings emphasize that although hosts in poor condition had a reduced immunocompetence, parasites may have avoided them because individuals in poor condition did not provide adequate resources. These findings highlight the fact that giving host immunocompetence primary consideration can result in a biased appraisal of host-parasite interactions.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1537-5323
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
171
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
107-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
What makes a host profitable? Parasites balance host nutritive resources against immunity.
pubmed:affiliation
1. Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. p.bize@bio.gla.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't