Host–parasite genotypic interactions in the honey bee: the dynamics of diversity

Ecology and Evolution

Sophie E. F. Evison¹  Geraldine Fazio¹  Paula Chappell¹  Kirsten Foley¹  Annette B. Jensen² 

[1] School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, U.K;Center for Social Evolution, Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

关键词: Apis mellifera;    Ascosphaera apis;    Aspergillus flavus;    disease resistance;    genetic diversity;    Polyandry;    social insect;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.599

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Parasites are thought to be a major driving force shaping genetic variation in their host, and are suggested to be a significant reason for the maintenance of sexual reproduction. A leading hypothesis for the occurrence of multiple mating (polyandry) in social insects is that the genetic diversity generated within-colonies through this behavior promotes disease resistance. This benefit is likely to be particularly significant when colonies are exposed to multiple species and strains of parasites, but host–parasite genotypic interactions in social insects are little known. We investigated this using honey bees, which are naturally polyandrous and consequently produce genetically diverse colonies containing multiple genotypes (patrilines), and which are also known to host multiple strains of various parasite species. We found that host genotypes differed significantly in their resistance to different strains of the obligate fungal parasite that causes chalkbrood disease, while genotypic variation in resistance to the facultative fungal parasite that causes stonebrood disease was less pronounced. Our results show that genetic variation in disease resistance depends in part on the parasite genotype, as well as species, with the latter most likely relating to differences in parasite life history and host–parasite coevolution. Our results suggest that the selection pressure from genetically diverse parasites might be an important driving force in the evolution of polyandry, a mechanism that generates significant genetic diversity in social insects.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.