Characterization of viruses in the cestode parasite Schistocephalus solidus

There is little information regarding parasitic flatworm-associated microbes that may play a role in parasite fitness and disease outcomes. Here we investigated RNA viruses associated with the cestode Schistocephalus solidus to develop an experimentally tractable parasite-host-virus system that can be used to understand the role of parasite-associated viruses in parasite fitness and host diseases, the role of parasites in virus evolution and host-microbe interactions, and to identify patterns and processes of host-parasite-virus coevolution.