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Association between host's genetic diversity and parasite burden in damselflies
Author(s) -
Kaunisto K. M.,
Viitaniemi H. M.,
Leder E. H.,
Suhonen J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/jeb.12177
Subject(s) - biology , inbreeding , host (biology) , loss of heterozygosity , genetic diversity , zoology , parasite hosting , genetic variation , amplified fragment length polymorphism , damselfly , evolutionary biology , genetics , ecology , population , allele , gene , odonata , demography , sociology , world wide web , computer science
Recent research indicates that low genetic variation in individuals can increase susceptibility to parasite infection, yet evidence from natural invertebrate populations remains scarce. Here, we studied the relationship between genetic heterozygosity, measured as AFLP‐based inbreeding coefficient f AFLP , and gregarine parasite burden from eleven damselfly, C alopteryx splendens, populations. We found that in the studied populations, 5–92% of males were parasitized by endoparasitic gregarines ( A picomplexa: A ctinocephalidae). Number of parasites ranged from none to 47 parasites per male, and parasites were highly aggregated in a few hosts. Mean individual f AFLP did not differ between populations. Moreover, we found a positive association between individual's inbreeding coefficient and parasite burden. In other words, the more homozygous the individual, the more parasites it harbours. Thus, parasites are likely to pose strong selection pressure against inbreeding and homozygosity. Our results support the heterozygosity‐fitness correlation hypothesis, which suggests the importance of heterozygosity for an individual's pathogen resistance.