Meeting Abstract

10.5  Saturday, Jan. 4 09:00  Parasite performance as indicator of host resistance in ecological studies KRASNOV, B.R.*; KHOKHLOVA, I.S.; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev krasnov@bgu.ac.il

From ecological and evolutionary perspectives, host resistance is nothing other than loss of fitness in a parasite induced by a host. Consequently, ecoimmunological studies should focus not only on immunological responses of a host to parasites, but also on responses of parasites to host anti-parasitic defenses. We present the results of several experimental case studies carried out on flea parasites of small mammals. We will consider the effect of host resistance on feeding and reproductive performance of fleas. First, we will focus on flea performance on individuals of the same host species that presumably differ in their resistance abilities (males versus females, young versus mature versus senile individuals, immune-naïve individuals versus individuals that acquired resistance against fleas). Second, we will consider performance of individuals of the same flea species on several species of small mammals that presumably have different innate resistance against this flea species. Feeding performance of fleas is measured via bloodmeal size, rate of digestion and energy expenditure for digestion, while reproductive performance is evaluated via both quantity (egg and new imago production) and quality of offspring (development rate, survival under starvation and body size).