Fungi with heteroxenous life histories

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1334-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Malloch

Heteroxenous (multiple host) life histories are characteristic of many groups of parasitic protista and animals, including Zoomastigina, Apicomplexa, Mesozoa, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Acanthocephala, Pentastomida, and Arthropoda. Parasitic fungi, including the Chytridiomycota and the Dikaryomycota (ascomycetes and basidiomycetes), may also have heteroxenous life histories and have many features in common with parasites from other groups. In spite of many conceptual similarities, the study of parasitic fungi has occurred in isolation, resulting in the creation of a separate vocabulary and literature. Many of the concepts developed by zoologists are useful to mycologists and allow examination of parasitic fungi from new perspectives. These new perspectives reveal that heteroxenous fungi are not only similar to heteroxenous protistans and animals but that they also have unique characteristics of their own. Chief among these is a high level of endocyclic asexual reproduction, a phenomenon promoting exponential increases of infections in definitive host populations. Heteroxeny appears to have a number of benefits including (i) increased lifetime reproductive success, (ii) increased transmission efficiency (iii) enhanced effectiveness in colonizing ephemeral or periodically appearing hosts and hosts occurring in low population densities, (iv) maintenance or enhancement of overdispersed frequency distributions in host populations, and (v) enhancement of genetic exchange through multiple dispersal events. Key words: fungi, heteroxenous, parasite, life histories.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke Kloock ◽  
Lena Peters ◽  
Charlotte Elizabeth Rafaluk-Mohr

In most animals, female investment in offspring production is greater than for males. Lifetime reproductive success (LRS) is predicted to be optimised in females through extended lifespans to maximise reproductive events. Extended lifespan can be achieved through increased investment in immunity. Males, however, maximise lifetime reproductive success by obtaining as many matings as possible. Microbe-mediated protection (MMP) is known to affect both immunity and reproduction, but whether the two sexes respond differently to the provision of MMP remains to be explored. Here, we investigated the sex-specific differences in host life history traits between female and male Caenorhabditis elegans following pathogenic infection with Staphylococcus aureus with or without MMP by Enterococcus faecalis. Overall, female survival decreased with increased mating. With MMP, females increased investment into offspring production, while males displayed higher behavioural activity. These results highlight the different strategies employed by the two sexes under pathogen infection with and without MMP.


1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 264-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.H. Reuling ◽  
J.T. Schwartz

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, it became evident that some glaucoma patients developed elevations of intraocular pressure, which were difficult to control, following prolonged use of systemic or ocular medications containing corticosteroids (Chandler, 1955, Alfano, 1963; Armaly, 1963). In addition, some patients without glaucoma, when treated with steroids for long periods of time, developed clinical signs of chronic simple glaucoma (McLean, 1950; François, 1954; Covell, 1958; Linner, 1959; Goldman, 1962). Fortunately, the elevation of intraocular pressure was reversible if the drug was discontinued.Over the past decade, extensive investigation of the “steroid response” has been undertaken. For this presentation, the steroid response may be considered as a gradual elevation of intraocular pressure, occurring over several weeks, in an eye being medicated with corticosteroid drops several times a day. The elevation in pressure is usually accompanied by a reduction in the facility of aqueous outflow. When relatively large numbers of subjects were tested with topical steroids, so that a wide range of responsiveness could be observed, a variation in individual sensitivity was demonstrated. Frequency distributions of intraocular pressure or change in pressure following steroids showed a skew toward the high side. On the basis of trimodal characteristics which they observed in such frequency distributions, Becker and Hahn (1964), Becker (1965) and Armaly (1965, 1966) considered the possible existence of several genetically determined subpopulations. These investigators distinguished three subpopulations on the basis of low, intermediate, and high levels of pressure response. It was hypothesized that these levels of response characterized three phenotypes, corresponding to the three possible genotypes of an allele pair, wherein one member of the pair determined a low level of response, and the other member determined a high level of response (Armaly, 1967).


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 2125-2139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Miethe ◽  
Yves Reecht ◽  
Helen Dobby

Abstract In the absence of abundance indices from scientific surveys or commercial sources, reliable length frequency data from sampled commercial catches can be used to provide an indirect assessment of fishing mortality. Length-based indicators are simple metrics which describe length frequency distributions. The length-based indicator Lmax5%, the mean length of the largest 5% of individuals in the catch, combined with appropriately selected reference points, can be used to evaluate the presence of very large individuals in the catch and hence determine exploitation level. Using analytical per-recruit models, we derive reference points consistent with a spawning potential ratio of 40%. The reference points depend on the life history parameters for natural mortality, maturity, and growth (M, Lmat, L∞, k, CVL∞). Using available simulation tools, we investigate the sensitivity of the reference points to errors in these parameters and explore the usefulness of particular reference points for management purposes for stocks with different life histories. The proposed reference points are robust to uncertainty in length at first capture, Lc, and take into account the maturation schedule of a species. For those stocks with high M/k ratios (>1), Lmax5%, combined with the appropriate reference point, can be used to provide a data-limited stock assessment.


Behaviour ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 126 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sechi Mori

Abstract1) The breeding succes of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L., forma leiura) males in a small stream of the Tsuya River, Gifu Prefecture, Central Japan, was studied with reference to timing of nesting initiation, use of space for nesting and social interactions. The observations were made almost daily during March to early July 1988 along the shore at a distance of 1-2 m from the fish and nests. 2) All the males in an enclosed study pool were individually marked (99 males). Furthermore, a total of 67 females were marked and observed weekly. The males were individually observed and their agonistic, courtship and parental behaviour as well as their reproductive success were quantified. Reproductive success of individual male was measured as the number of nests built, the number of successful nests, the number of hatched fry per nest. Nest sites were categorized in six types (A-F) on the basis of the proportion of vegetation cover around the nest and distance from the shore. 3) Body size and environmental factors (water temperature, water depth, changes in water level) were not correlated with reproductive success. Flooding was not a major cause of unsuccessful nesting. The brightness of nuptial colouration at the onset of breeding correlated significantly with individual success. Individual variation in the development of secondary sexual characteristics such as a nuptial colouration may have an important consequence for the lifetime reproductive success of the individuals. There was no relationship between fish density and reproductive success. 4) All males that nested more than once had begun breeding early in the season. The sooner a male started nest-building, the more opportunities he had to complete breeding cycles. 5) After an unsuccessful nest, males were significantly more likely to move their nest sites than after a successful nest. The subsequent nesting cycle was not always successful. 6) There was variation in nest-sitc location. The spatial pattern of nest distribution was strongly related to the temporal pattern, because the first males which settled, more often built their nests at sites along the shore where the nest was covered on one or two sides by vegetation. The location of nest site was significantly correlated with reproductive success. When males nested in partly concealed places along the shore, they could sometimes obtain a high reproductive success irrespective of the date of breeding initiation. Thus, reproductive success was largely determined by the timing of nest-building and nest position.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document