Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus

We analysed 3 independently collected datasets of fully censused helminth burdens in wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, testing the a priori hypothesis of Behnke et al. (2005) that the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus predisposes wood mice to carrying other species of helmi...

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Main Authors: Behnke, J.M., Eira, C., Rogan, M., Gilbert, F.S., Torres, J., Miquel, J., Lewis, J.W.
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2009
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29466/
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author Behnke, J.M.
Eira, C.
Rogan, M.
Gilbert, F.S.
Torres, J.
Miquel, J.
Lewis, J.W.
author_facet Behnke, J.M.
Eira, C.
Rogan, M.
Gilbert, F.S.
Torres, J.
Miquel, J.
Lewis, J.W.
author_sort Behnke, J.M.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We analysed 3 independently collected datasets of fully censused helminth burdens in wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, testing the a priori hypothesis of Behnke et al. (2005) that the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus predisposes wood mice to carrying other species of helminths. In Portugal, mice carrying H. polygyrus showed a higher prevalence of other helminths but the magnitude of the effect was seasonal. In Egham, mice with H. polygyrus showed a higher prevalence of other helminth species, not confounded by other factors. In Malham Tarn, mice carrying H. polygyrus were more likely to be infected with other species, but only among older mice. Allowing for other factors, heavy residual H. polygyrus infections carried more species of other helminths in both the Portugal and Egham data; species richness in Malham was too low to conduct a similar analysis, but as H. polygyrus worm burdens increased, so the prevalence of other helminths also increased. Our results support those of Behnke et al. (2005), providing firm evidence that at the level of species richness a highly predictable element of co-infections in wood mice has now been defined: infection with H. polygyrus has detectable consequences for the susceptibility of wood mice to other intestinal helminth species.
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spelling nottingham-294662020-05-04T20:26:13Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29466/ Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus Behnke, J.M. Eira, C. Rogan, M. Gilbert, F.S. Torres, J. Miquel, J. Lewis, J.W. We analysed 3 independently collected datasets of fully censused helminth burdens in wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, testing the a priori hypothesis of Behnke et al. (2005) that the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus predisposes wood mice to carrying other species of helminths. In Portugal, mice carrying H. polygyrus showed a higher prevalence of other helminths but the magnitude of the effect was seasonal. In Egham, mice with H. polygyrus showed a higher prevalence of other helminth species, not confounded by other factors. In Malham Tarn, mice carrying H. polygyrus were more likely to be infected with other species, but only among older mice. Allowing for other factors, heavy residual H. polygyrus infections carried more species of other helminths in both the Portugal and Egham data; species richness in Malham was too low to conduct a similar analysis, but as H. polygyrus worm burdens increased, so the prevalence of other helminths also increased. Our results support those of Behnke et al. (2005), providing firm evidence that at the level of species richness a highly predictable element of co-infections in wood mice has now been defined: infection with H. polygyrus has detectable consequences for the susceptibility of wood mice to other intestinal helminth species. Cambridge University Press 2009-07 Article PeerReviewed Behnke, J.M., Eira, C., Rogan, M., Gilbert, F.S., Torres, J., Miquel, J. and Lewis, J.W. (2009) Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Parasitology, 136 (7). pp. 793-804. ISSN 0031-1820 Apodemus sylvaticus associations of helminths co-occurrence of helminths Heligmosomoides polygyrus helminths helminth species richness interactions between helminths. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5661752&fileId=S0031182009006039 doi:10.1017/S0031182009006039 doi:10.1017/S0031182009006039
spellingShingle Apodemus sylvaticus
associations of helminths
co-occurrence of helminths
Heligmosomoides polygyrus
helminths
helminth species richness
interactions between helminths.
Behnke, J.M.
Eira, C.
Rogan, M.
Gilbert, F.S.
Torres, J.
Miquel, J.
Lewis, J.W.
Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title_full Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title_fullStr Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title_full_unstemmed Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title_short Helminth species richness in wild wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus
title_sort helminth species richness in wild wood mice, apodemus sylvaticus, is enhanced by the presence of the intestinal nematode heligmosomoides polygyrus
topic Apodemus sylvaticus
associations of helminths
co-occurrence of helminths
Heligmosomoides polygyrus
helminths
helminth species richness
interactions between helminths.
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29466/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29466/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29466/