Best, A., Ashby, B., White, A. et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Host-parasite fluctuating selection in the absence of specificity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284 (1866). 20171615. ISSN 0962-8452
Abstract
Fluctuating selection driven by coevolution between hosts and parasites is important for the generation of host and parasite diversity across space and time. Theory has focused primarily on infection genetics, with highly specific ‘matching allele’ frameworks more likely to generate fluctuating selection dynamics (FSD) than ‘gene-for-gene’ (generalist-specialist) frameworks. However, the environment, ecological feedbacks, and life-history characteristics may all play a role in determining when FSD occurs. Here, we develop eco- evolutionary models with explicit ecological dynamics to explore the ecological, epidemiological and host life-history drivers of FSD. Our key result is to demonstrate for the first time that specificity between hosts and parasites is not required to generate FSD. Furthermore, highly specific host-parasite interactions produce unstable, less robust stochastic fluctuations in contrast to interactions that lack specificity altogether or those that vary from generalist to specialist, which produce predictable limit cycles. Given the ubiquity of ecological feedbacks and the variation in the nature of specificity in host parasite interactions, our work emphasizes the underestimated potential for host- parasite coevolution to generate fluctuating selection.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Coevolution; infectious disease; fluctuating selection; specificity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematics and Statistics (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number LEVERHULME TRUST (THE) ECF-2013-117 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Oct 2017 13:43 |
Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2017 09:53 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1615 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society, The |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rspb.2017.1615 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:122008 |