In their recent paper, Vigneux et al (2008) address a classic idea in the evolution of virulence. When multiple genotypes of a parasite infect a single host, competition can influence the overall virulence. The paper is examines the interaction of relatedness and virulence. One viewpoint is that with a low level of relatedness, virulence should increase as competition among genotypes overexploits the host. Another hypothesis that the authors test is that different genotypes may engage in a "chemical warfare" inside the host. This would lead to a decrease in virulence as relatedness decreases.
Their overall results are completely consistent with their second hypothesis, increases in virulence with increases in relatedness as mediated through limited migration. Their evidence is that the host shows a quicker mortality in the low migration treatment. More compelling at least in gaining evidence for the role of interference competition is their growth inhibition assay. Bacterial clones from the low migration treatment did not inhibit the growth of other clones from the same host. When the authors tested clones from different hosts did still possessed some ability to inhibit growth.
While the details on the infection protocol in this paper seemed to make the results a little harder to understand, they did gain evidence that clearly support the role of interference competition on virulence. The proposed mechanism seems sound, but obviously could use further investigation. I initially misunderstood the role of migration in this experiment. To my understanding the effect of their different treatments was to reduce the variation among genotypes and increase the relatedness. Previous arguments about the role of transmission and virulence are not completely appropriate in the context of this experiment. Some of the discussion among our group focused on the role of kin selection in the evolution of greater virulence.
Some extra details: This experiment uses a rather complex host-parasite interaction consisting of a nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) that is a parasite in insect larvae. However, unlike a previous paper (Bashey et al 2007) focusing on the nematode, here the main focus is a symbiotic bacterium of the nematode (Xenorhabdus nematophila) that along with the nematode induces mortality in the insect host. X. nematophila is also known to produce bacteriocins which inhibit the growth of other genotypes. Over the course of 20 host passages, the authors construct two types of experimental treatments. In one treatment (high migration), parasites from several lines are mixed together creating an infection containing bacteria. In the second treatment (low migration), the majority of parasite were transferred from a single host line. These two treatment setup a contrast of the potential relatedness of the bacteria in the current host.
References
Bashey, F., Morran, L.T. & Lively, C.M. 2007. Coinfection, kin selection, and the rate of host exploitation by a parasitic nematode. Evol. Ecol. Res. 9: 947-958.
VIGNEUX, F., BASHEY, F., SICARD, M., & LIVELY, C. (2008). Low migration decreases interference competition among parasites and increases virulence Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 21 (5), 1245-1251 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01576.x
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