Impact of host nutritional status on infection dynamics and parasite virulence in a bird-malaria system

1. Host resources can drive the optimal parasite exploitation strategy by offering a good or a poor environment to pathogens. Hosts living in resource-rich habitats might offer a favourable environment to developing parasites because they provide a wealth of resources. However, hosts living in resource-rich habitats might afford a higher investment into costly immune defences providing an effective barrier against infection. Understanding how parasites can adapt to hosts living in habitats of different quality is a major challenge in the light of the current human-driven environmental changes. 2. We studied the role of nutritional resources as a source of phenotypic variation in host exploitation by the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum. We investigated how the nutritional status of birds altered parasite within-host dynamics and virulence, and how the interaction between past and current environments experienced by the parasite accounts for the variation in the infection dynam...

1. 宿主资源可通过为病原体营造优良或恶劣的生存环境，调控寄生虫的最优宿主利用策略。栖息于资源丰富生境的宿主，因可获取充足营养，或许能为寄生虫的发育提供适宜环境。但与此同时，这类宿主也可能对昂贵的免疫防御机制投入更多资源，从而形成抵御感染的有效屏障。在当前人类活动驱动的环境变化背景下，解析寄生虫如何适应不同质量生境中的宿主，是一项重大科学挑战。2. 本研究聚焦营养资源作为禽疟原虫（Plasmodium relictum）宿主体内利用表型变异来源的作用。我们探究了鸟类的营养状态如何改变寄生虫的宿主体内动态与毒力，以及寄生虫所经历的过往与当前环境之间的互作，如何解释感染动态的变异……