Abstract
The reduction in host fitness caused by parasite infections (virulence) depends on infection intensity and the degree of damage caused per parasite. Environmental conditions can shape both virulence components, but in contrast to infection intensity, environmental impacts on per-parasite damage are poorly understood. Here, we studied the effect of ambient temperature on per-parasite damage, which is jointly determined by the ability of parasites to induce harm (per-parasite pathogenicity) and the ability of hosts to limit damage (tolerance). We experimentally exposed two salmonid species, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and sea trout (Salmo trutta), to replicated genotypes of the eye fluke Diplostomum pseudospathaceum. After development of health damage (eye cataracts) in warm water (16 °C) during the first 12 weeks post exposure, we maintained the fish at either 5 °C (cold water) or 16 °C for another 8 weeks and quantified changes in cataracts as a function of parasite load. We found that per-parasite damage was reduced in cold compared to warm water, suggesting that cold temperatures improved host health. Per-parasite damage was also affected by parasite genotype and host species, but these effects did not change with temperature. Our findings suggest that cold-water seasons, which are often neglected in host-parasite studies due to low infection risk, could allow hosts to recuperate and thus, may have important implications for the ecology and epidemiology of parasite infections.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Juho Niva for help with genotyping and the staff of Kainuu Fisheries research station and Konnevesi research station for support with fish maintenance. Pieter Johnson and anonymous reviewers are thanked for helpful comments on the manuscript.
Funding
This work was funded by the Academy of Finland (Grants 263864, 292736 and 310632 to A.K.).
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IK and AK conceived and performed the experiment. IK analysed the data and wrote the manuscript with substantial input from AK and PH. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
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Communicated by Pieter Johnson.
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Klemme, I., Hyvärinen, P. & Karvonen, A. Cold water reduces the severity of parasite-inflicted damage: support for wintertime recuperation in aquatic hosts. Oecologia 195, 155–161 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04818-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04818-2