Université de Fribourg

Experimental evolution of field populations of Daphnia magna in response to parasite treatment

Zbinden, Marc ; Haag, Christoph R. ; Ebert, Dieter

In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2008///doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01541.x

Although there is little doubt that hosts evolve to reduce parasite damage, little is known about the evolutionary time scale on which host populations may adapt under natural conditions. Here we study the effects of selection by the microsporidian parasite Octosporea bayeri on populations of Daphnia magna. In a field study, we infected replicated populations of D. magna with the parasite,...

Université de Fribourg

Parasite-mediated selection in experimental metapopulations of Daphnia magna

Haag, Christoph R. ; Ebert, Dieter

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 2004, vol. 271, p. 2149-2155

In metapopulations, only a fraction of all local host populations may be infected with a given parasite species, and limited dispersal of parasites suggests that colonization of host populations by parasites may involve only a small number of parasite strains. Using hosts and parasites obtained from a natural metapopulation, we studied the evolutionary consequences of invasion by single strains...

Université de Fribourg

Variation in phenoloxidase activity and its relation to parasite resistance within and between populations of Daphnia magna

Mucklow, Patrick T. ; Vizoso, Dita B. ; Jensen, Knut Helge ; Refardt, Dominik ; Ebert, Dieter

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, 2004, vol. 271, p. 1175-1183

Estimates of phenoloxidase (PO) activity have been suggested as a useful indicator of immunocompetence in arthropods, with the idea that high PO activity would indicate high immunocompetence against parasites and pathogens. Here, we test for variation in PO activity among clones of the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna and its covariation with susceptibility to infections from four different...