Parasitism ≈ ParasitismParasitism
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Mechanism and consequences for avoidance of superparasitism in the solitary parasitoid Cotesia vestalis Open
A parasitoid’s decision to reject or accept a potential host is fundamental to its fitness. Superparasitism, in which more than one egg of a given parasitoid species can deposit in a single host, is usually considered sub-optimal in system…
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Climate change promotes parasitism in a coral symbiosis Open
Coastal oceans are increasingly eutrophic, warm and acidic through the addition of anthropogenic nitrogen and carbon, respectively. Among the most sensitive taxa to these changes are scleractinian corals, which engineer the most biodiverse…
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An encrusting kleptoparasite-host interaction from the early Cambrian Open
Parasite–host systems are pervasive in nature but are extremely difficult to convincingly identify in the fossil record. Here we report quantitative evidence of parasitism in the form of a unique, enduring life association between tube-dwe…
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Venom Proteins from Parasitoid Wasps and Their Biological Functions Open
Parasitoid wasps are valuable biological control agents that suppress their host populations. Factors introduced by the female wasp at parasitization play significant roles in facilitating successful development of the parasitoid larva eit…
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Mandrills use olfaction to socially avoid parasitized conspecifics Open
Mandrills use olfactory cues from feces of conspecifics to evaluate parasite status and avoid social contact with infectious animals.
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Parasite-Microbiota Interactions With the Vertebrate Gut: Synthesis Through an Ecological Lens Open
The vertebrate gut teems with a large, diverse, and dynamic bacterial community that has pervasive effects on gut physiology, metabolism, and immunity. Under natural conditions, these microbes share their habitat with a similarly dynamic c…
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The Impact of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes on Agriculture and Methods of Control Open
Plant-parasitic nematodes are costly burdens of crop production. Ubiquitous in nature, phytoparasitic nematodes are associated with nearly every important agricultural crop and represent a significant constraint on global food security. Ro…
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Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) emerges in North America Open
\n \n Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) is an Asian egg parasitoid of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål). It has been under study in U.S. quarantine facilities since 2007 to evaluate its efficacy as a candidate classical…
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Independent origins of parasitism in Animalia Open
Nearly half of all animals may have a parasitic lifestyle, yet the number of transitions to parasitism and their potential for species diversification remain unresolved. Based on a comprehensive survey of the animal kingdom, we find that p…
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Reproductive Parasitism: Maternally Inherited Symbionts in a Biparental World Open
Most species of insect, and many other plants and animals, carry maternally heritable microorganisms-viruses, bacteria, unicellular eukaryotes, and fungi that pass from a female host to her progeny. Maternal inheritance establishes a corre…
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Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda Infestations in East Africa: Assessment of Damage and Parasitism Open
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, threatens maize production in Africa. A survey was conducted to determine the distribution of FAW and its natural enemies and damage severity in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in 2017 and 2018.…
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Anatomical Alterations in Plant Tissues Induced by Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Open
Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) interact with plants in different ways, for example, through subtle feeding behavior, migrating destructively through infected tissues, or acting as virus-vectors for nepoviruses. They are all obligate biot…
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Broomrape Weeds. Underground Mechanisms of Parasitism and Associated Strategies for their Control: A Review Open
Broomrapes are plant-parasitic weeds which constitute one of the most difficult-to-control of all biotic constraints that affect crops in Mediterranean, central and eastern Europe, and Asia. Due to their physical and metabolic overlap with…
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Seasonal parasitism and host specificity of Trissolcus japonicus in northern China Open
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), native to China, Japan, and Korea, has emerged as a harmful invasive pest of a variety of crops in North America and Europe. The Asian egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus has been i…
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A parasitic nematode releases cytokinin that controls cell division and orchestrates feeding site formation in host plants Open
Significance Sedentary plant-parasitic cyst nematodes are microscopic roundworms that cause significant yield losses in agriculture. Successful parasitism is based on the formation of a hypermetabolic feeding site in host roots from which …
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Functional biology of parasitic plants: a review Open
Background – Parasitic plants are functionally specialized to acquire at least some essential resources from other plants via specialized organs called haustoria. Parasitism evolved 12 times independently in the evolution of angiosperms of…
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Parasitism perturbs the mucosal microbiome of Atlantic Salmon Open
Interactions between parasite, host and host-associated microbiota are increasingly understood as important determinants of disease progression and morbidity. Salmon lice, including the parasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis and related…
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The use of haemoglobin concentrations to assess physiological condition in birds: a review Open
Total blood haemoglobin concentration is increasingly being used to assess physiological condition in wild birds, although it has not been explicitly recognized how reliably this parameter reflects different components of individual qualit…
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Dissecting endophytic lifestyle along the parasitism/mutualism continuum in Arabidopsis Open
Mutualistic interactions between plants and fungi often occur in the rhizosphere, although examples exist where shoot-endophytes support host growth and increase resistance to pathogens and herbivores. Fungal endophytes which colonize thei…
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Nonreproductive Effects of Insect Parasitoids on Their Hosts Open
The main modes of action of insect parasitoids are considered to be killing their hosts with egg laying followed by offspring development (reproductive mortality), and adults feeding on hosts directly (host feeding). However, parasitoids c…
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Parasitoid Complex of Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in Ghana and Benin Open
The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from the American continent, has recently invaded most African countries, where it is seriously threatening food security as a pest of cereals. The current management methods rel…
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Mutualism–parasitism paradigm synthesized from results of root-endophyte models Open
Plant tissues host a variety of fungi. One important group is the dark septate endophytes (DSEs) that colonize plant roots and form characteristic intracellular structures - melanized hyphae and microsclerotia. The DSE associations are com…
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Drosophila suzukii population response to environment and management strategies Open
Drosophila suzukii causes economic damage to berry and stone fruit worldwide. Laboratory-generated datasets were standardized and combined on the basis of degree days (DD), using Gompertz and Cauchy curves for survival and reproduction. Eg…
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Evidence for specificity in symbiont-conferred protection against parasitoids Open
Many insects harbour facultative symbiotic bacteria, some of which have been shown to provide resistance against natural enemies. One of the best-known protective symbionts is Hamiltonella defensa , which in pea aphid ( Acyrthosiphon pisum…
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Molecular Dialog Between Parasitic Plants and Their Hosts Open
Parasitic plants steal sugars, water, and other nutrients from host plants through a haustorial connection. Several species of parasitic plants such as witchweeds ( Striga spp.) and broomrapes ( Orobanche and Phelipanche spp.) are major bi…
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The costs and effectiveness of chemical defenses in herbivorous insects: a meta‐analysis Open
The evolution of defensive traits and strategies depends on the intensity of selection imposed by natural enemies and on the fitness costs of defenses against these enemies. We tested several hypotheses about the evolution of chemical defe…
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Information use in colonial living Open
Despite the fact that many animals live in groups, there is still no clear consensus about the ecological or evolutionary mechanisms underlying colonial living. Recently, research has suggested that colonies may be important as sources of …
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The Symbiotic Spectrum: Where Do the Gregarines Fit? Open
Gregarine apicomplexans are closely related to parasites such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, and Cryptosporidium, which are causing severe health and economic burdens. Colonizing only invertebrates and having no obvious medical relevance, they…
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Identification and characterization of parasitism genes from the pinewood nematode <i>Bursaphelenchus xylophilus</i> reveals a multilayered detoxification strategy Open
Summary The migratory endoparasitic nematode B ursaphelenchus xylophilus , which is the causal agent of pine wilt disease, has phytophagous and mycetophagous phases during its life cycle. This highly unusual feature distinguishes it from o…
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Plant virus evolution under strong drought conditions results in a transition from parasitism to mutualism Open
Significance Viruses are seen as selfish pathogens that harm their hosts to ensure their own survival. However, metagenomic studies are drawing a new picture in which viruses are present everywhere and not always associated to diseases. A …