An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice
Parasitism of mice by Toxoplasma gondii reduces the host's aversion to cat odours, likely increasing predation and transmission of the parasite to its definitive host. This behavioural change suggests a parasitic manipulation where host behaviour becomes an extended phenotype of the parasite. I...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170375 |
| _version_ | 1826111576584749056 |
|---|---|
| author | Ngo, Philip Lignereux, Louis O'Handley, Ryan Vyas, Ajai |
| author2 | School of Biological Sciences |
| author_facet | School of Biological Sciences Ngo, Philip Lignereux, Louis O'Handley, Ryan Vyas, Ajai |
| author_sort | Ngo, Philip |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Parasitism of mice by Toxoplasma gondii reduces the host's aversion to cat odours, likely increasing predation and transmission of the parasite to its definitive host. This behavioural change suggests a parasitic manipulation where host behaviour becomes an extended phenotype of the parasite. Independently, epigenetic changes within an organism are now known to create behavioural change. The results described here provide an experimental connection between these disparate strands of extended phenotypes and the role of epigenetics in behavioural diversity. Using mice captured on Kangaroo Island in Australia, we demonstrate that Toxoplasma gondii infection leads to specific DNA hypomethylation events in the host brain. Previous laboratory studies have shown that these epigenetic changes underlie the central processing of cat odours. We posit that the concept of extended phenotype can be expanded to extended epiphenotype, thus linking parasite genes to host behaviour through epigenesis. This phenomenon has broad implications for inter-species relationships. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:53:02Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/170375 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:53:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1703752023-09-11T01:44:33Z An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice Ngo, Philip Lignereux, Louis O'Handley, Ryan Vyas, Ajai School of Biological Sciences Science::Biological sciences Behavioural Manipulation Epigenetics Parasitism of mice by Toxoplasma gondii reduces the host's aversion to cat odours, likely increasing predation and transmission of the parasite to its definitive host. This behavioural change suggests a parasitic manipulation where host behaviour becomes an extended phenotype of the parasite. Independently, epigenetic changes within an organism are now known to create behavioural change. The results described here provide an experimental connection between these disparate strands of extended phenotypes and the role of epigenetics in behavioural diversity. Using mice captured on Kangaroo Island in Australia, we demonstrate that Toxoplasma gondii infection leads to specific DNA hypomethylation events in the host brain. Previous laboratory studies have shown that these epigenetic changes underlie the central processing of cat odours. We posit that the concept of extended phenotype can be expanded to extended epiphenotype, thus linking parasite genes to host behaviour through epigenesis. This phenomenon has broad implications for inter-species relationships. This research is supported by Human Frontier Science Program, Grant Number: RGP0062/2018. 2023-09-11T01:44:33Z 2023-09-11T01:44:33Z 2023 Journal Article Ngo, P., Lignereux, L., O'Handley, R. & Vyas, A. (2023). An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice. Functional Ecology, 37(4), 845-851. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14223 0269-8463 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170375 10.1111/1365-2435.14223 2-s2.0-85141995320 4 37 845 851 en Functional Ecology © 2022 The Authors. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Science::Biological sciences Behavioural Manipulation Epigenetics Ngo, Philip Lignereux, Louis O'Handley, Ryan Vyas, Ajai An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title | An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title_full | An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title_fullStr | An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title_short | An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| title_sort | extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice |
| topic | Science::Biological sciences Behavioural Manipulation Epigenetics |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/170375 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ngophilip anextendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT lignereuxlouis anextendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT ohandleyryan anextendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT vyasajai anextendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT ngophilip extendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT lignereuxlouis extendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT ohandleyryan extendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice AT vyasajai extendedepiphenotypeforanextendedphenotypeintoxoplasmagondiiinfectedferalhousemice |