FSBI Students
Environmental and genetic effects on host-parasite interactions in the Gasterosteus aculeatus-Schistocephalus solidus model system
Natalie Simmonds
University of Leicester
Supervisor(s): Iain Barber
Plerocercoid larvae of the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus are common parasites of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) throughout its geographical range. The three-spined stickleback is well known as a model species which has risen in popularity in recent years, in part due its ability to survive and breed in laboratory aquaria. Sticklebacks become infected after ingesting infected copepods, and the parasites grow to a large size in the fish’s body cavity by sequestering host resources. Previous studies have shown infections to be associated with altered host foraging and anti-predatory behaviour, reduced host body condition and impaired reproductive development, but infection phenotypes are highly variable between populations. Environmental factors have been implicated in affecting the interactions between parasite and host, but relatively few studies have examined this within an experimental framework. The aim of my PhD research is to determine how environmental conditions and differences between hosts affect the outcome of parasite infections in fish, using the stickleback-Schistocephalus system as a model.
Experimental infection studies allow the effect of infections upon hosts to be studied under controlled rearing conditions, which can then be utilised to determine the environmental and genetic components of infection phenotypes. Using lab-bred sticklebacks I will examine the importance of food availability and temperature on susceptibility to S. solidus infection and parasite success. Also by exposing lab-bred sticklebacks to infective stages of parasites from geographically distant populations I will be able to determine if the impact of a novel parasite has more severe effects upon fish hosts than a local, co-evolved strain. Results from this work will give us a greater understanding of how infection phenotypes are formed and how they are likely to change in the context of environmental change and species range shifts.
Contact:
Lab 226, Adrian BuildingDepartment of Biology College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology University of Leicester Leicester LE1 7RH
Email: ns173@le.ac.uk
Web: http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/research/evolutionary/lab/members
PHOTO: Three-spined stickleback with S. solidus plerocercoid larvae shown in situ (left) and removed from the host body cavity (right)
