Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections

Petra Schneider; Hamza Babiker; Amal Gadalla; Sarah Reece

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001

Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections

Petra Schneider, Hamza Babiker, Amal Gadalla, Sarah Reece

School of Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Malaria transmission is achieved by sexual stages, called gametocytes, and the proportion of gametocytes that are male versus female (sex ratio) influences transmission success. In malaria model systems, variation in gametocyte sex ratios can be explained by the predictions of evolutionary sex allocation theory. We test these predictions using natural Plasmodium falciparum infections. The predicted negative correlation between sex ratio and gametocyte density holds: sex ratio increases when gametocyte densities decrease, and this is most apparent in single genotype infections and in the dry season. We do not observe higher gametocyte sex ratios in mixed compared to single genotype infections.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	601-604
Journal	International Journal For Parasitology
Volume	49
Issue number	8
Early online date	31 May 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 31 May 2019

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Fertility insurance
local mate competition
sex allocation
gametocyte density
seasonal malaria transmission
competition

Access to Document

SchneiderEtalIJP2019EvolutionarySexAllocationTheoryExplainsSexRatiosInNaturalFinal published version, 337 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Parasite offence or host defence? The roles of biological rhythms in malaria infection
Reece, S.
UK-based charities
1/11/16 → 30/09/23
Project: Research
Evolution and ecology of phenotypic plasticity in parasite life history strategies
Reece, S.
NERC
30/04/13 → 29/10/17
Project: Research
Plasticity in parasites: adaptive strategies for survival and reproduction?
Reece, S.
Other (Learned Society)
1/01/13 → 13/03/19
Project: Research

Data from: Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections.
Schneider, P. (Creator), Babiker, H. (Creator), Gadalla, A. A. (Creator) & Reece, S. (Creator), Edinburgh DataShare, 17 Dec 2018
DOI: 10.7488/ds/2475
Dataset

Cite this

@article{f6ed29346c6e44ac9592283b38622c07,

title = "Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections",

abstract = "Malaria transmission is achieved by sexual stages, called gametocytes, and the proportion of gametocytes that are male versus female (sex ratio) influences transmission success. In malaria model systems, variation in gametocyte sex ratios can be explained by the predictions of evolutionary sex allocation theory. We test these predictions using natural Plasmodium falciparum infections. The predicted negative correlation between sex ratio and gametocyte density holds: sex ratio increases when gametocyte densities decrease, and this is most apparent in single genotype infections and in the dry season. We do not observe higher gametocyte sex ratios in mixed compared to single genotype infections.",

keywords = "Fertility insurance, local mate competition, sex allocation, gametocyte density, seasonal malaria transmission, competition",

author = "Petra Schneider and Hamza Babiker and Amal Gadalla and Sarah Reece",

year = "2019",

month = may,

day = "31",

doi = "10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001",

language = "English",

volume = "49",

pages = "601--604",

journal = "International Journal For Parasitology",

issn = "0020-7519",

publisher = "Pergamon Press",

number = "8",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections

AU - Schneider, Petra

AU - Babiker, Hamza

AU - Gadalla, Amal

AU - Reece, Sarah

PY - 2019/5/31

Y1 - 2019/5/31

N2 - Malaria transmission is achieved by sexual stages, called gametocytes, and the proportion of gametocytes that are male versus female (sex ratio) influences transmission success. In malaria model systems, variation in gametocyte sex ratios can be explained by the predictions of evolutionary sex allocation theory. We test these predictions using natural Plasmodium falciparum infections. The predicted negative correlation between sex ratio and gametocyte density holds: sex ratio increases when gametocyte densities decrease, and this is most apparent in single genotype infections and in the dry season. We do not observe higher gametocyte sex ratios in mixed compared to single genotype infections.

AB - Malaria transmission is achieved by sexual stages, called gametocytes, and the proportion of gametocytes that are male versus female (sex ratio) influences transmission success. In malaria model systems, variation in gametocyte sex ratios can be explained by the predictions of evolutionary sex allocation theory. We test these predictions using natural Plasmodium falciparum infections. The predicted negative correlation between sex ratio and gametocyte density holds: sex ratio increases when gametocyte densities decrease, and this is most apparent in single genotype infections and in the dry season. We do not observe higher gametocyte sex ratios in mixed compared to single genotype infections.

KW - Fertility insurance

KW - local mate competition

KW - sex allocation

KW - gametocyte density

KW - seasonal malaria transmission

KW - competition

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001

DO - 10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.04.001

M3 - Article

SN - 0020-7519

VL - 49

SP - 601

EP - 604

JO - International Journal For Parasitology

JF - International Journal For Parasitology

IS - 8

ER -

Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections

Abstract / Description of output

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Parasite offence or host defence? The roles of biological rhythms in malaria infection

Evolution and ecology of phenotypic plasticity in parasite life history strategies

Plasticity in parasites: adaptive strategies for survival and reproduction?

Datasets

Data from: Evolutionary sex allocation theory explains sex ratios in natural Plasmodium falciparum infections.

Cite this