Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Letters to Nature
Nature 428, 840-844 (22 April 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature02490; Received 18 December 2003; Accepted 10 March 2004
Open Innovation Challenges
-
Efficient Chromosome Doubling: Plant Cell Division
The Seeker is looking for an efficient chromosome doubling method in plants and in particular, metho...
-
Fast Growth of Transformed Soybean Shoots
A method for accelerating growth of soybean shoots is desired.
nature jobs
Beamline Scientist PROXIMA 2
- Synchrotron Soleil
- Gif Sur Yvette 91190 France
Postdoctoral Researcher
- Harvard University School of Public Health
- Boston, MA
Competition and mutualism among the gut helminths of a mammalian host
Joanne Lello1, Brian Boag2, Andrew Fenton3, Ian R. Stevenson4 & Peter J. Hudson5
- CSIRO Livestock Industries, F.D. McMaster Laboratories, Locked Bag 1, PO Armidale, New South Wales 2350, Australia
- Birch Brae, Knapp, Perth & Kinross PH14 9SW, UK
- Institute of Zoology, ZSL, Regents Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
- Department of Biology, 513 Mueller Laboratory, University Park, Penn State University, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
Correspondence to: Joanne Lello1 Email: Joanne.Lello@csiro.au
Abstract
Most animal species are infected with multiple parasite species; however, the role of interspecific parasite interactions in influencing parasite dynamics and shaping parasite communities has been unclear. Although laboratory studies have found evidence of cross-immunity, immunosuppression and competition1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, analyses of hosts in the field have generally concluded that parasite communities are little more than random assemblages7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Here we present evidence of consistent interspecific interactions in a natural mammalian system, revealed through the analysis of parasite intensity data collected from a free-ranging rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population, sampled monthly for a period of 23 yr. The wild rabbit plays host to a diverse gut helminth community15, 16, 17 that reflects the communities seen in other economically important domestic herbivores18, 19. These findings suggest that parasite interactions could have profound implications for the dynamics of parasite communities. The efficacy of parasite control programmes could be jeopardized if such interactions are not taken into account. In contrast, a clear understanding of such interactions may provide the basis for the development of more environmentally acceptable methods of parasite control.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
Effect of Infection with Myxomatosis Virus on the Endoparasites of RabbitsNature Letters to Editor (21 Feb 1959)
Population Regulation in Rabbit NematodesNature Letters to Editor (29 Jan 1955)
Experimental Infections of Cattle with Fasciola hepatica. Challenge InfectionsNature Letters to Editor (24 Dec 1966)
A Seasonal Sex Difference in the Infestation of Rabbits with the Nematode Trichostrongylus retortaeformis (Zeder, 1800)Nature Letters to Editor (25 Jul 1959)
See all 5 matches for Research
