Disease Epidemiology in Arthropods Is Altered by the Presence of Nonprotective Symbionts

Inherited microbial symbionts can modulate host susceptibility to natural enemy attack. A wider range of symbionts influence host population demography without altering individual susceptibility, and it has been suggested that these may modify host disease risk through altering the rate of exposure...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American naturalist 2014-03, Vol.183 (3), p.E89-E104
Main Authors: Ryder, Jonathan J., Hoare, Mary-Jo, Pastok, Daria, Bottery, Michael, Boots, Michael, Fenton, Andrew, Atkinson, David, Knell, Robert J., Hurst, Gregory D. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adalia bipunctata
Animals
Arthropoda
Arthropods
Coleoptera - microbiology
Coleoptera - parasitology
E-Article
Environment
Epidemics
Epidemiology
Female
Female animals
Infections
Insects
Male
Male animals
Mating behavior
Mites
Mites - physiology
Models, Biological
Parasite hosts
Parasitology
Population biology
Sex Factors
Sex ratio
Sexually transmitted diseases
Spiroplasma - physiology
STD
Symbionts
Symbiosis
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Summary:Inherited microbial symbionts can modulate host susceptibility to natural enemy attack. A wider range of symbionts influence host population demography without altering individual susceptibility, and it has been suggested that these may modify host disease risk through altering the rate of exposure to natural enemies. We present the first test of this thesis, specifically testing whether male-killing symbionts alter the epidemiology of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) carried by its host. STIs are typically expected to show female-biased epidemics, and we first present a simple model which indicates that male-biased STI epidemics may occur where symbionts create female-biased population sex ratios. We then examined the dynamics of a STI in the ladybird beetleAdalia bipunctata, which is also host to a male-killing bacterium. We present evidence that male-biased epidemics of the STI are observed in natural populations when the male-killer is common. Laboratory experiments did not support a role for differential susceptibility of male and female hosts to the STI, nor a protective role for the symbiont, in creating this bias. We conclude that the range of symbionts likely to alter parasite epidemiology will be much wider than previously envisaged, because it will additionally include those that impact host demography alone.
ISSN:0003-0147
1537-5323
DOI:10.1086/674827