Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions
Kinnula, H., Mappes, J., & Sundberg, L.-R. (2017). Coinfection outcome in an opportunistic pathogen depends on the inter-strain interactions. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 17, 77. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-0922-2
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BMC Evolutionary BiologyDate
2017Discipline
Ekologia ja evoluutiobiologiaSolu- ja molekyylibiologiaEcology and Evolutionary BiologyCell and Molecular BiologyCopyright
© The Author(s). 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Background: In nature, organisms are commonly coinfected by two or more parasite strains, which has been
shown to influence disease virulence. Yet, the effects of coinfections of environmental opportunistic pathogens on
disease outcome are still poorly known, although as host-generalists they are highly likely to participate in
coinfections. We asked whether coinfection with conspecific opportunistic strains leads to changes in virulence, and
if these changes are associated with bacterial growth or interference competition. We infected zebra fish
(Danio rerio) with three geographically and/or temporally distant environmental opportunist Flavobacterium
columnare strains in single and in coinfection. Growth of the strains was studied in single and in co-cultures in
liquid medium, and interference competition (growth-inhibiting ability) on agar.
Results: The individual strains differed in their virulence, growth and ability for interference competition. Number of
coinfecting strains significantly influenced the virulence of infection, with three-strain coinfection differing from the
two-strain and single infections. Differences in virulence seemed to associate with the identity of the coinfecting
bacterial strains, and their pairwise interactions. This indicates that benefits of competitive ability (production of
growth-inhibiting compounds) for virulence are highest when multiple strains co-occur, whereas the high virulence
in coinfection may be independent from in vitro bacterial growth.
Conclusions: Intraspecific competition can lead to plastic increase in virulence, likely caused by faster utilization of
host resources stimulated by the competitive interactions between the strains. However, disease outcome depends
both on the characteristics of individual strains and their interactions. Our results highlight the importance of strain
interactions in disease dynamics in environments where various pathogen genotypes co-occur.
...
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © The Author(s). 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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