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| Strength in diversity: the effects of within-host competition on parasite fitness and evolution | ||||||||||||
Parasitism is a major driving force in evolution and, given that most species are afflicted by at least one unique species of parasite, may well be the most common life-history strategy in existence. Most of our understanding of host-parasite interactions is based upon infections involving only single parasites, but infections in nature in fact often involve multiple parasites. These may be of either the same or different species, and will compete for the limited resources provided by the host. Within-host competition is therefore an exciting arena for studying evolutionary ecology, and one which is critical to our understanding of both parasite and host evolution. Competition is generally thought to result in the most virulent parasite outgrowing less virulent parasites, so resulting in a more virulent infection, and in parasites evolving greater virulence. However, while there is abundant theoretical work on the within-host and evolutionary dynamics of infections involving multiple parasites, experimental data is much more limited. This studentship will use the chalkbrood parasite of honeybees as a model system to investigate experimentally within-host competition. Both in vitro and in vivo competition experiments will be used to determine parasite virulence and competitive ability, the cutting-edge technique of quantitative PCR will be used to measure parasite fitness over the course of infections with great accuracy, and serial passage experiments will be used to assess parasite evolution in real time. The student will join a young and dynamic research group, many of whom study the host-parasite evolutionary ecology of social insects, and which will include other researchers studying the chalkbrood-honeybee system. Candidates should have a very good degree in Biology, Ecology, Zoology or a related discipline, as well as a genuine interest in evolutionary biology. Funding Notes The project is funded by the NERC as a tied-studentship. The studentship funds fees and maintenance of UK students. Residents of other EU countries may also apply, but should note that NERC rules stipulate that the studentship will only cover their fees. Applicants from EU countries other than the UK will therefore need their own funding to cover their maintenance. Read & Taylor 2001 Science 292:1099-1102 Ebert 1998 Science 282:1432-1435 Hughes & Boomsma 2004 Proc R Soc Lond B (Suppl) 271(S3):S104-S106. |
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