TY - JOUR
T1 - Occurrence and host specificity of a neogregarine protozoan in four milkweed butterfly hosts (Danaus spp.)
AU - Barriga, Paola A.
AU - Sternberg, Eleanore D.
AU - Lefèvre, Thierry
AU - de Roode, Jacobus C.
AU - Altizer, Sonia
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Michael Maudsley, Rebecca Bartel, Ernie Osburn, Jeff Shapiro and Myron Zalucki for assistance in collecting butterflies in Australia and Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Florida respectively, and for assistance with experimental work. We thank Lincoln Brower for comments to improve this manuscript and for the important butterfly collections from 1968 to 1970 that were used in this study. We thank the Altizer-Ezenwa laboratory members at the University of Georgia for useful comments on the manuscript, and Samyak Kaninde, Fitz Clarke and Mike Quinn for granting us permission to use their butterfly pictures to produce our figures. We thank Andy Davis for his technical support. This work was supported by NSF DEB-0643831 to S.A. NSF grant DEB-1019746 to JCdR.
PY - 2016/10/1
Y1 - 2016/10/1
N2 - Throughout their global range, wild monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are infected with the protozoan Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE). In monarchs, OE infection reduces pupal eclosion, adult lifespan, adult body size and flight ability. Infection of other butterfly hosts with OE is rare or unknown, and the only previously published records of OE infection were on monarch and queen butterflies (D. gilippus). Here we explored the occurrence and specificity of OE and OE-like parasites in four Danaus butterfly species. We surveyed wild D. eresimus (soldier), D. gilippus (queen), D. petilia (lesser wanderer), and D. plexippus (monarch) from five countries to determine the presence of infection. We conducted five cross-infection experiments, on monarchs and queen butterflies and their OE and OE-like parasites, to determine infection probability and the impact of infection on their hosts. Our field survey showed that OE-like parasites were present in D. gilippus, D. petilia, and D. plexippus, but were absent in D. eresimus. Infection probability varied geographically such that D. gilippus and D. plexippus populations in Puerto Rico and Trinidad were not infected or had low prevalence of infection, whereas D. plexippus from S. Florida and Australia had high prevalence. Cross-infection experiments showed evidence for host specificity, in that OE strains from monarchs were more effective at infecting monarchs than queens, and monarchs were less likely to be infected by OE-like strains from queens and lesser wanderers relative to their own natal strains. Our study showed that queens are less susceptible to OE and OE-like infection than monarchs, and that the reduction in adult lifespan following infection is more severe in monarchs than in queens.
AB - Throughout their global range, wild monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are infected with the protozoan Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE). In monarchs, OE infection reduces pupal eclosion, adult lifespan, adult body size and flight ability. Infection of other butterfly hosts with OE is rare or unknown, and the only previously published records of OE infection were on monarch and queen butterflies (D. gilippus). Here we explored the occurrence and specificity of OE and OE-like parasites in four Danaus butterfly species. We surveyed wild D. eresimus (soldier), D. gilippus (queen), D. petilia (lesser wanderer), and D. plexippus (monarch) from five countries to determine the presence of infection. We conducted five cross-infection experiments, on monarchs and queen butterflies and their OE and OE-like parasites, to determine infection probability and the impact of infection on their hosts. Our field survey showed that OE-like parasites were present in D. gilippus, D. petilia, and D. plexippus, but were absent in D. eresimus. Infection probability varied geographically such that D. gilippus and D. plexippus populations in Puerto Rico and Trinidad were not infected or had low prevalence of infection, whereas D. plexippus from S. Florida and Australia had high prevalence. Cross-infection experiments showed evidence for host specificity, in that OE strains from monarchs were more effective at infecting monarchs than queens, and monarchs were less likely to be infected by OE-like strains from queens and lesser wanderers relative to their own natal strains. Our study showed that queens are less susceptible to OE and OE-like infection than monarchs, and that the reduction in adult lifespan following infection is more severe in monarchs than in queens.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jip.2016.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jip.2016.09.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 27642090
AN - SCOPUS:84988646649
SN - 0022-2011
VL - 140
SP - 75
EP - 82
JO - Journal of invertebrate pathology
JF - Journal of invertebrate pathology
ER -