Heritability of host responses to parasites in marine and estuarine communities
Sotka, E.E.; Strand, A.E. (2026). Heritability of host responses to parasites in marine and estuarine communities, in: Byers, J.E. et al. The ecology and evolution of marine parasites and disease. Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases series, : pp. 287-298. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/9780197790847.003.0016
In: Byers, J.E.; Blakeslee, A.M.H.; Wares, J.P. (Ed.) (2026). The ecology and evolution of marine parasites and disease. Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases series. Oxford University Press: New York. ISBN 9780197790809. 376 pp. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/9780197790847.001.0001, more
In: Ecology and evolution of infectious diseases series. Oxford University Press: New York. , more
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| Author keywords |
co-evolution, heritability, survivorship, tolerance, resistance |
| Abstract |
Variation in the traits that mediate interactions between hosts and their parasites often have an underlying genetic basis. Such adaptive genetic variation can play an important role in the patchy, non-normal distribution of parasites within host populations and is central to co-evolutionary dynamics. The authors survey one metric of adaptive genetic variation for complex traits (i.e., heritability) across marine and estuarine host–parasite interactions. They found 130 estimates of heritability in host-response traits (survivorship, growth, and parasite load) to micro- and macro-parasites for 24 species of hosts. They could find no estimate of heritability within any parasite, nor in any seaweed or vascular plant; these are clear gaps in the literature. Heritability in host-response traits had a mean of 0.297, indicating substantial adaptive genetic variation in host-response traits within populations. Heritability was greater among mollusk hosts relative to fish or crustacean hosts and tended to be greater in response to micro-parasites than to macro-parasites and when parasites were deliberately manipulated versus more natural infections. There were no differences across host-response traits, the environmental context (i.e., in tanks, sea pens, or the field), or studies that incorporated molecular markers into the experimental design or not. Abundant heritability means that marine and coastal host species have capacity to co-evolve with their parasites and that ecological patterns of parasite aggregation have a strong genetic component. This genetic variation also provides some hope for evolutionary resilience in ecosystems that continue to see increases in disease prevalence. |
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