Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2002 Jun 7;269(1496):1161–1165. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2002.1976

Timing of transmission and the evolution of virulence of an insect virus.

Vaughn S Cooper 1, Michael H Reiskind 1, Jonathan A Miller 1, Kirsten A Shelton 1, Bruno A Walther 1, Joseph S Elkinton 1, Paul W Ewald 1
PMCID: PMC1691001  PMID: 12061960

Abstract

We used the nuclear polyhedrosis virus of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, to investigate whether the timing of transmission influences the evolution of virulence. In theory, early transmission should favour rapid replication and increase virulence, while late transmission should favour slower replication and reduce virulence. We tested this prediction by subjecting one set of 10 virus lineages to early transmission (Early viruses) and another set to late transmission (Late viruses). Each lineage of virus underwent nine cycles of transmission. Virulence assays on these lineages indicated that viruses transmitted early were significantly more lethal than those transmitted late. Increased exploitation of the host appears to come at a cost, however. While Early viruses initially produced more progeny, Late viruses were ultimately more productive over the entire duration of the infection. These results illustrate fitness trade-offs associated with the evolution of virulence and indicate that milder viruses can obtain a numerical advantage when mild and harmful strains tend to infect separate hosts.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (92.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bouma J. E., Lenski R. E. Evolution of a bacteria/plasmid association. Nature. 1988 Sep 22;335(6188):351–352. doi: 10.1038/335351a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bremermann H. J., Pickering J. A game-theoretical model of parasite virulence. J Theor Biol. 1983 Feb 7;100(3):411–426. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(83)90438-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ebert D. Experimental evolution of parasites. Science. 1998 Nov 20;282(5393):1432–1435. doi: 10.1126/science.282.5393.1432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ebert D. Virulence and local adaptation of a horizontally transmitted parasite. Science. 1994 Aug 19;265(5175):1084–1086. doi: 10.1126/science.265.5175.1084. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Ebert D., Weisser W. W. Optimal killing for obligate killers: the evolution of life histories and virulence of semelparous parasites. Proc Biol Sci. 1997 Jul 22;264(1384):985–991. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0136. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fine P. E. Herd immunity: history, theory, practice. Epidemiol Rev. 1993;15(2):265–302. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Fine P. E. Vectors and vertical transmission: an epidemiologic perspective. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975;266:173–194. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb35099.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hamilton W. D. The moulding of senescence by natural selection. J Theor Biol. 1966 Sep;12(1):12–45. doi: 10.1016/0022-5193(66)90184-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Herre E. A. Population structure and the evolution of virulence in nematode parasites of fig wasps. Science. 1993 Mar 5;259(5100):1442–1445. doi: 10.1126/science.259.5100.1442. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lenski R. E., May R. M. The evolution of virulence in parasites and pathogens: reconciliation between two competing hypotheses. J Theor Biol. 1994 Aug 7;169(3):253–265. doi: 10.1006/jtbi.1994.1146. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lipsitch M., Nowak M. A., Ebert D., May R. M. The population dynamics of vertically and horizontally transmitted parasites. Proc Biol Sci. 1995 Jun 22;260(1359):321–327. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1995.0099. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. May R. M., Anderson R. M. Epidemiology and genetics in the coevolution of parasites and hosts. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1983 Oct 22;219(1216):281–313. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1983.0075. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Messenger S. L., Molineux I. J., Bull J. J. Virulence evolution in a virus obeys a trade-off. Proc Biol Sci. 1999 Feb 22;266(1417):397–404. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0651. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Nowak M. A., May R. M. Superinfection and the evolution of parasite virulence. Proc Biol Sci. 1994 Jan 22;255(1342):81–89. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1994.0012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES