Paper for discussion 7

Evolution of virulence

Fig wasps emerging from a fig fruit
http://www.dimijianimages.com/More-page5-mutualisms/fig-wasps.jpg

Question for tutorial:

Why are some pathogens more virulent than others?

Required reading

Herre, E. A. 1993. Population structure and the evolution of virulence in nematode parasites of fig wasps. Science 259: 1442-1445.

Additional, optional references:

Alizon, S., A. Hurford, N. Mideo, and M. Van Baalen. 2009. Virulence evolution and the trade-off hypothesis: history, current state of affairs and the future. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22: 245-259.

Bull, J. J., I. J. Molineux, and W. R. Rice. 1991. Selection of benevolence in a host-parasite system. Evolution 45: 875-882.

Ewald, P. W. 1994. Evolution of infectious disease. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.

Lipsitch, M., E. A. Herre and M. A. Nowak. 1995. Host population structure and the evolution of virulence: a “law of diminishing returns”. Evolution 49: 743-748.

Mackinnon, M. J. and A. F. Read. 1999. Genetic relationships between parasite virulence and transmission in the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi. Evolution 53:689-703.

Stewart, A. D., J. M. Logsdon, Jr., and S. E. Kelley. 2005. An empirical study of the evolution of virulence under both horizontal and vertical transmission. Evolution 59: 730-739.