dc.contributor.author | Frost, Paul C. | |
dc.contributor.author | Dieter, Ebert | |
dc.contributor.author | Smith, Val H. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-02-10T22:31:18Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-02-10T22:31:18Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2008 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Frost, P. C., Ebert, D., & Smith, V. H. (2008). Responses of a bacterial pathogen to phosphorus limitation of its aquatic invertebrate host. Ecology, 89(2), 313–318. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/07-0389.1 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1808/16641 | |
dc.description.abstract | Host nutrition is thought to affect the establishment, persistence, and severity of pathogenic infections. Nutrient-deficient foods possibly benefit pathogens by constraining host immune function or benefit hosts by limiting parasite growth and reproduction. However, the effects of poor elemental food quality on a host’s susceptibility to infection and disease have received little study. Here we show that the bacterial microparasite Pasteuria ramosa is affected by the elemental nutrition of its aquatic invertebrate host, Daphnia magna. We found that high food carbon : phosphorus (C:P) ratios significantly reduced infection rates of Pasteuria in Daphnia and led to lower within-host pathogen multiplication. In addition, greater virulent effects of bacterial infection on host reproduction were found in Daphniaconsuming P-deficient food. Poor Daphnia elemental nutrition thus reduced the growth and reproduction of its bacterial parasite, Pasteuria. The effects of poor host nutrition on the pathogen were further evidenced by Pasteuria’s greater inhibition of reproduction in P-limited Daphnia. Our results provide strong evidence that elemental food quality can significantly influence the incidence and intensity of infectious disease in invertebrate hosts. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | We thank H. Foy, C. Hibbert, M. Kingsbury, S. McCarthy, and D. Woolnough for their assistance with the experiments. This work was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Trent University. | en_US |
dc.publisher | The Ecological Society of America | en_US |
dc.rights | Copyright by the Ecological Society of America | |
dc.subject | bacterial pathogen | en_US |
dc.subject | Daphnia | en_US |
dc.subject | ecological stoichiometry | en_US |
dc.subject | elemental imbalance | en_US |
dc.subject | infectious disease | en_US |
dc.subject | life-history | en_US |
dc.subject | Pasteuria ramosa | en_US |
dc.title | Responses of a bacterial pathogen to phosphorus limitation of its aquatic invertebrate host | en_US |
dc.type | Article | |
kusw.kuauthor | Smith, Val H. | |
kusw.kudepartment | Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1890/07-0389.1 | |
kusw.oaversion | Scholarly/refereed, publisher version | |
kusw.oapolicy | This item does not meet KU Open Access policy criteria. | |
dc.rights.accessrights | openAccess | |