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Competition between strains of Borrelia afzelii inside the rodent host and the tick vector
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- The Royal Society, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Multiple-strain pathogens often establish mixed infections inside the host that result in competition between strains. In vector-borne pathogens, the competitive ability of strains must be measured in both the vertebrate host and the arthropod vector to understand the outcome of competition. Such studies could reveal the existence of trade-offs in competitive ability between different host types. We used the tick-borne bacteriumBorrelia afzeliito test for competition between strains in the rodent host and the tick vector, and to test for a trade-off in competitive ability between these two host types. Mice were infected via tick bite with either one or two strains, and these mice were subsequently used to create ticks with single or mixed infections. Competition in the rodent host reduced strain-specific host-to-tick transmission and competition in the tick vector reduced the abundance of both strains. The strain that was competitively superior in host-to-tick transmission was competitively inferior with respect to bacterial abundance in the tick. This study suggests that in multiple-strain vector-borne pathogens there are trade-offs in competitive ability between the vertebrate host and the arthropod vector. Such trade-offs could play an important role in the coexistence of pathogen strains.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Ixodes ricinus
media_common.quotation_subject
puutiaiset
Tick
Borrelia afzelii
medicine.disease_cause
infektiot
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Competition (biology)
life-history trade-off
Microbiology
03 medical and health sciences
co-infection
Borrelia burgdorferi Group
parasitic diseases
isäntäeläimet
medicine
Animals
inter-strain competition
Pathogen
General Environmental Science
media_common
Life Cycle Stages
Lyme Disease
Mice, Inbred BALB C
luonnonvalinta
General Immunology and Microbiology
biology
Ecology
Ixodes
Host (biology)
Transmission (medicine)
ta1183
transmission
General Medicine
biology.organism_classification
bacterial infections and mycoses
Borrelia-bakteerit
030104 developmental biology
ta1181
Arachnid Vectors
Female
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Arthropod Vector
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....8dcda46dfc44b911b227f714d3b69319