The visual ecology of selective predation: Are unhealthy hosts less stealthy hosts?

Wale, Nina; Fuller, Rebecca C.; Johnsen, Sönke; Turrill, McKenna; Duffy, Meghan A.

doi:10.1002/ece3.8464

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Interactions among pathogens and Daphnia can have significant impacts on Daphnia population dynamics, evolution and trophic interactions, and serve as important models of host-pathogen interactions (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). One of the oldest Daphnia pathogens known to science is Spirobacillus cienkowskii, a gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the newly characterized family, Silvanigrellaceae (9).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Daphnia , Spirobacillus causes large epidemics and increases their vulnerability to predation (4, 14, 15). Spirobacillus also produces pigments, which cause Daphnia to become a red color that predators can readily detect (6). Accordingly, there has been interest in using the Spirobacillus-Daphnia system as a laboratory model of predator-parasite-host interactions and the evolution of pigment-production in pathogens (16).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton,Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Wale,

Freimark,

Ramirez

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spirobacillus cienkowskii(Spirobacillus,hereafter) is a widely distributed bacterial pathogen of zooplankton (Daphniasp.) that has significant impacts on zooplankton population dynamics. Despite its ecological importance, little is known aboutSpirobacillus’virulence and transmission biology. These knowledge gaps stymie our understanding ofDaphnia-Spirobacillusinteractions and the ecology of the newly described familySilvanigrellaceae,of whichSpirobacillusis the longest studied member. Here, we present our work to fill these gaps, experimentally. We found thatSpirobacillusis among the most virulent ofDaphniapathogens, killing its host within a week of exposure and reducing host fecundity. Our experiments further suggest thatSpirobacillusrequires host death to transmit horizontally i.e., it is an “obligate killer”, since it did not transmit horizontally among hosts unless the host died or was destroyed. In a series of further experiments characterizing the dynamics of horizontal transmission, we found thatSpirobacillus’per capita rate of transmission is low, does not change with host density or pathogen inoculum size, and decreases rapidly with time spent in the environment. Lastly, we complemented our experimental work with a field survey ofSpirobacillus’prevalence within ephippia, seed-like cases containingDaphniaoffspring. We foundSpirobacillusDNA in almost 40% of ephippia, suggesting thatSpirobacillusis vertically transmitted and/or can invade ephippia and use them to endure environmental stress, as their hosts do. Our work fills critical gaps in our understanding of this ecologically important pathogen’s biology.ImportanceSpirobacillus cienkowskiiis a bacterial pathogen of zooplankton, first described in the 19thCentury and recently placed in a new family of bacteria, theSilvanigrellaceae.Spirobacilluscauses large epidemics in lake zooplankton populations and increases the probability that zooplankton will be eaten by predators. However, little is known about howSpirobacillustransmits among hosts, to what extent it reduces host survival and reproduction (i.e., how virulent it is) and what role virulence plays inSpirobacillus’life cycle. Here, we experimentally quantifiedSpirobacillus’ virulence and showed thatSpirobacillusmust kill its host to transmit horizontally. We also found evidence thatSpirobacillusmay transmit vertically viaDaphnia’s seed-like egg sacks. Our work will help scientists to (i) understandSpirobacillusepidemics, (ii) useSpirobacillusas a model pathogen for the study of host-parasite interactions and (iii) better understand the unusual group of bacteria to whichSpirobacillusbelongs.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton,Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Wale,

Freimark,

Ramirez

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton, Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Wale,

Freimark,

Ramirez

et al. 2024

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spirobacillus cienkowskii ( Spirobacillus, hereafter) is a widely distributed bacterial pathogen that has significant impacts on the population dynamics of zooplankton ( Daphnia spp .) , particularly in months when Daphnia are asexually reproducing. However, little is known about Spirobacillus’ virulence, transmission mode, and dynamics. As a result, we cannot explain the dynamics of Spirobacillus epidemics in nature or use Spirobacillus as a model pathogen, despite Daphnia’s tractability as a model host. Here, we work to fill these knowledge gaps experimentally. We found that Spirobacillus is among the most virulent of Daphnia pathogens, killing its host within a week and reducing host fecundity. We further found that Spirobacillus did not transmit horizontally among hosts unless the host died or was destroyed (i.e., it is an “obligate killer”). In experiments aimed at quantifying the dynamics of horizontal transmission among asexually reproducing Daphnia , we demonstrated that Spirobacillus transmits poorly in the laboratory. In mesocosms, Spirobacillus failed to generate epidemics; in experiments wherein individual Daphnia were exposed, Spirobacillus’ transmission success was low. In the (limited) set of conditions we considered, Spirobacillus’ transmission success did not change with host density or pathogen dose and declined following environmental incubation. Finally, we conducted a field survey of Spirobacillus’ prevalence within egg cases (ephippia) made by sexually reproducing Daphnia . We found Spirobacillus DNA in ~40% of ephippia, suggesting that, in addition to transmitting horizontally among asexually reproducing Daphnia , Spirobacillus may transmit vertically from sexually reproducing Daphnia . Our work fills critical gaps in the biology of Spirobacillus and illuminates new hypotheses vis-à-vis its life history. IMPORTANCE Spirobacillus cienkowskii is a bacterial pathogen of zooplankton, first described in the 19 th century and recently placed in a new family of bacteria, the Silvanigrellaceae . Spirobacillus causes large epidemics in lake zooplankton populations and increases the probability that zooplankton will be eaten by predators. However, little is known about how Spirobacillus transmits among hosts, to what extent it reduces host survival and reproduction (i.e., how virulent it is), and what role virulence plays in Spirobacillus ’ life cycle. Here, we experimentally quantified Spirobacillus’ virulence and showed that Spirobacillus must kill its host to transmit horizontally. We also found evidence that Spirobacillus may transmit vertically via Daphnia’ s seed-like egg sacks. Our work will help scientists to (i) understand Spirobacillus epidemics, (ii) use Spirobacillus as a model pathogen for the study of host-parasite interactions, and (iii) better understand the unusual group of bacteria to which Spirobacillus belongs.

show abstract

Dual fear phenomenon in an eco-epidemiological model with prey aggregation

Antwi-Fordjour,

Westmoreland,

Bearden

2024

Eur. Phys. J. Plus

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The visual ecology of selective predation: Are unhealthy hosts less stealthy hosts?

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 3 publications

References 64 publications

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton,Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton,Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Virulence and transmission biology of the widespread, ecologically important pathogen of zooplankton, Spirobacillus cienkowskii

Dual fear phenomenon in an eco-epidemiological model with prey aggregation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About