This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 5 of this Preprint.
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Download PreprintThis is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 5 of this Preprint.
This Preprint has no visible version.
Download PreprintParasites trigger reactions in hosts, leading to suppressive resistance and/or tolerance, aiming to limit the parasitic costs. Both colonization by parasites and defense activation can induce varying amount of costs for the host. Understanding parasite-induced effects on host fitness crucially depends on assessing parasitic costs in specific wild host-parasite systems. To evaluate potential effects of blood parasite infection, we compared physiological traits of Common Buzzard nestlings Buteo buteo i) at different stages of infection and ii) with increasing levels of parasitemia (frequency of infected host cells) with Leucocytozoon toddi, a pathogen causing malaria-like conditions. We expected infection costs to appear from the onset of infection and during peak parasitemia, rather than when parasitemia was decreasing or in uninfected hosts. We found no difference in physiological traits among infection stages, indicating low immediate parasitic costs and pointing to infection tolerance in this ontogenic stage. Surprisingly, infection only led to decrease of host health during rare and particularly acute expressions of infection. Thus, Leucocytozoon toddi appears to typically display low virulence towards their hosts, during all stages of infection. Juveniles, as a relatively parasite-tolerant life-history stage, may enable parasite transmission in the population while avoiding infection-driven host mortality during this critical period.
https://doi.org/10.32942/osf.io/4tcqu
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Parasitology
Avian malaria, Bird of prey, Host-parasite interaction, Immune system, infection burden, nestlings, physiology, tolerance
Published: 2022-02-25 03:46
Last Updated: 2022-09-19 18:48
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