Resistance to gapeworm parasite has both additive and dominant genetic components in house sparrows, with evolutionary consequences for ability to respond to parasite challenge

Host parasite relationships are likely to change over the coming decades in response to climate change and increased anthropogenic stressors. Understanding the genetic architecture of parasite resistance will aid prediction of species’ responses to intensified parasite challenge. The gapeworm “Syngamus trachea” is prevalent in natural bird populations and causes symptomatic infections ranging from mild to severe. The parasite may affect ecological processes by curtailing bird populations and is important due to its propensity to spread to commercially farmed birds. Our large scale dataset on an insular house sparrow metapopulation in northern Norway includes information on gapeworm prevalence and infection intensity, allowing assessment of the genetics of parasite resistance in a natural system. To determine whether parasite resistance has a heritable genetic component, we performed variance component analyses using animal models. Resistance to gapeworm had substantial additive genetic ...

未来数十年间，受气候变化与不断加剧的人为胁迫因子影响，宿主-寄生虫互作（host-parasite relationships）格局大概率将发生改变。解析寄生虫抗性的遗传结构，将有助于预测物种对增强的寄生虫感染压力的响应。气管比翼线虫（Syngamus trachea）在野生鸟类种群中广泛流行，可引发从轻度到重度的症状性感染。该寄生虫可通过缩减鸟类种群规模对生态过程造成影响，且因其易传播至商业养殖鸟类中而具备重要研究价值。我们针对挪威北部的岛屿家麻雀集合种群（metapopulation）构建了大规模数据集，其中涵盖气管比翼线虫感染率与感染强度的相关信息，可用于评估自然系统中寄生虫抗性的遗传基础。为明确寄生虫抗性是否存在可遗传的遗传组分，我们采用动物模型（animal models）开展了方差组分分析。气管比翼线虫抗性具有显著的加性遗传...