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Main Authors: Sriramulu, Pranav, Schluter, Dolph, Bolnick, Daniel I
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: Evolution letters 2025
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40980709/
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author Sriramulu, Pranav
Schluter, Dolph
Bolnick, Daniel I
author_facet Sriramulu, Pranav
Schluter, Dolph
Bolnick, Daniel I
Sriramulu, Pranav
Schluter, Dolph
Bolnick, Daniel I
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater. Sriramulu, Pranav Schluter, Dolph Bolnick, Daniel I When a species colonizes a new environment, it may encounter new parasites to which its immune system is poorly adapted. After an initial spike in infection rates in the naïve founder population, the host may subsequently evolve increased immunity, thereby reducing infection rates. Here, we present an example of this eco-evolutionary process in a population of threespine stickleback () that was founded in Heisholt Quarry, a man-made quarry pond, in 1967. Marine stickleback rarely encounter tapeworms (which require freshwater to hatch), and so remain highly susceptible to infection. Initially, introduced marine fish were heavily infected by . They exhibited low levels of fibrosis, a heritable immune trait that some genotypes activate in response to infection, thereby suppressing tapeworm growth and viability. By the 1990s, the Heisholt Quarry population exhibited high rates of fibrosis, which partly suppressed infection. This increased immune response led to reduced infection rates, and the tapeworm was apparently extirpated by 2021. Because fibrosis has a strong genetic basis in other stickleback populations, we infer that the newly founded stickleback-parasite interaction exhibits an eco-evolutionary process of increased immunity that effectively reduced infection. The infection and immune dynamics documented here closely match those expected from a simple eco-evo dynamic model presented here.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_40980709
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2025
publisher Evolution letters
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater.
Sriramulu, Pranav
Schluter, Dolph
Bolnick, Daniel I
Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater. Sriramulu, Pranav Schluter, Dolph Bolnick, Daniel I When a species colonizes a new environment, it may encounter new parasites to which its immune system is poorly adapted. After an initial spike in infection rates in the naïve founder population, the host may subsequently evolve increased immunity, thereby reducing infection rates. Here, we present an example of this eco-evolutionary process in a population of threespine stickleback () that was founded in Heisholt Quarry, a man-made quarry pond, in 1967. Marine stickleback rarely encounter tapeworms (which require freshwater to hatch), and so remain highly susceptible to infection. Initially, introduced marine fish were heavily infected by . They exhibited low levels of fibrosis, a heritable immune trait that some genotypes activate in response to infection, thereby suppressing tapeworm growth and viability. By the 1990s, the Heisholt Quarry population exhibited high rates of fibrosis, which partly suppressed infection. This increased immune response led to reduced infection rates, and the tapeworm was apparently extirpated by 2021. Because fibrosis has a strong genetic basis in other stickleback populations, we infer that the newly founded stickleback-parasite interaction exhibits an eco-evolutionary process of increased immunity that effectively reduced infection. The infection and immune dynamics documented here closely match those expected from a simple eco-evo dynamic model presented here.
title Dynamics of infection and immunity over 50 years as marine stickleback adapt to freshwater.
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40980709/