Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans
Abstract Resistance to parasites confers a fitness advantage, yet hosts show substantial variation in resistance in natural populations. Evolutionary theory indicates that resistant and susceptible genotypes can coexist if resistance is costly, but there is mixed evidence that resistant individuals...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9793 |
| _version_ | 1797894181745590272 |
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| author | Juliana Jiranek Amanda Gibson |
| author_facet | Juliana Jiranek Amanda Gibson |
| author_sort | Juliana Jiranek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Resistance to parasites confers a fitness advantage, yet hosts show substantial variation in resistance in natural populations. Evolutionary theory indicates that resistant and susceptible genotypes can coexist if resistance is costly, but there is mixed evidence that resistant individuals have lower fitness in the absence of parasites. One explanation for this discrepancy is that the cost of resistance varies with environmental context. We tested this hypothesis using Caenorhabditis elegans and its natural microsporidian parasite, Nematocida ironsii. We used multiple metrics to compare the fitness of two near‐isogenic host genotypes differing at regions associated with resistance to N. ironsii. To quantify the effect of the environment on the cost associated with these known resistance regions, we measured fitness on three microbial diets. We found that the cost of resistance varied with both diet and the measure of fitness. We detected no cost to resistance, irrespective of diet, when fitness was measured as fecundity. However, we detected a cost when fitness was measured in terms of population growth, and the magnitude of this cost varied with diet. These results provide a proof of concept that, by mediating the cost of resistance, environmental context may govern the rate and nature of resistance evolution in heterogeneous environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:04:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-378dbb89c2d14205b12fce08830dbb36 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:04:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-378dbb89c2d14205b12fce08830dbb362023-02-27T08:56:39ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-02-01132n/an/a10.1002/ece3.9793Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegansJuliana Jiranek0Amanda Gibson1Department of Biology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USADepartment of Biology University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USAAbstract Resistance to parasites confers a fitness advantage, yet hosts show substantial variation in resistance in natural populations. Evolutionary theory indicates that resistant and susceptible genotypes can coexist if resistance is costly, but there is mixed evidence that resistant individuals have lower fitness in the absence of parasites. One explanation for this discrepancy is that the cost of resistance varies with environmental context. We tested this hypothesis using Caenorhabditis elegans and its natural microsporidian parasite, Nematocida ironsii. We used multiple metrics to compare the fitness of two near‐isogenic host genotypes differing at regions associated with resistance to N. ironsii. To quantify the effect of the environment on the cost associated with these known resistance regions, we measured fitness on three microbial diets. We found that the cost of resistance varied with both diet and the measure of fitness. We detected no cost to resistance, irrespective of diet, when fitness was measured as fecundity. However, we detected a cost when fitness was measured in terms of population growth, and the magnitude of this cost varied with diet. These results provide a proof of concept that, by mediating the cost of resistance, environmental context may govern the rate and nature of resistance evolution in heterogeneous environments.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9793Caenorhabditiscontext dependencecosts of resistancedefensehost–parasite interactionsNematocida |
| spellingShingle | Juliana Jiranek Amanda Gibson Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans Ecology and Evolution Caenorhabditis context dependence costs of resistance defense host–parasite interactions Nematocida |
| title | Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| title_full | Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| title_fullStr | Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| title_short | Diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in Caenorhabditis elegans |
| title_sort | diet can alter the cost of resistance to a natural parasite in caenorhabditis elegans |
| topic | Caenorhabditis context dependence costs of resistance defense host–parasite interactions Nematocida |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9793 |
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