Putative within-host environmental cues.
<div><p>The timing of investment into reproduction is a key determinant of lifetime reproductive success (fitness). Many organisms exhibit plastic, i.e., environmentally-responsive, investment strategies, raising the questions of what environmental cues trigger responses and why organism...
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| _version_ | 1851482149912313856 |
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| author | Avril Wang (22404300) |
| author2 | Megan Ann Greischar (20439303) Nicole Mideo (326660) |
| author2_role | author author |
| author_facet | Avril Wang (22404300) Megan Ann Greischar (20439303) Nicole Mideo (326660) |
| author_role | author |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Avril Wang (22404300) Megan Ann Greischar (20439303) Nicole Mideo (326660) |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv | 2025-10-09T18:12:56Z |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003081.t001 |
| dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv | https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Putative_within-host_environmental_cues_/30323181 |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | CC BY 4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | Microbiology Evolutionary Biology Ecology Infectious Diseases Space Science Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified put another way plasmodium spp .</ higher virulence compared efficiently exploit hosts redundant cues enables detect two cues lifetime reproductive success permits terminal investment adopt terminal investment replicate asexually within achieve fitness approaching optimize transmission investment specialized transmission stages rodent malaria parasite plasmodium chabaudi </ div >< p optimal transmission investment malaria parasites (< maximize parasite fitness e ., environmentally varying investment strategy time since infection sensing two within transmission stages varying strategy reproductive investment optimal time particular cues malaria parasites g ., investment strategies >), investment versus stages best time fitness ). transformed infected sensing non results suggest results show perfect information parasites use parasites perceive low densities key determinant infection ends implicitly assuming developmental fluctuations derived factors classic expectation also plastic |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | Dataset info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion dataset |
| description | <div><p>The timing of investment into reproduction is a key determinant of lifetime reproductive success (fitness). Many organisms exhibit plastic, i.e., environmentally-responsive, investment strategies, raising the questions of what environmental cues trigger responses and why organisms have evolved to respond to those particular cues. For malaria parasites (<i>Plasmodium spp.</i>), investment into the production of specialized transmission stages (versus stages that replicate asexually within the host) is synonymous with reproductive investment and also plastic, responding to host- and parasite-derived factors. Previous theory has identified optimal plastic transmission investment strategies for the rodent malaria parasite, <i>Plasmodium chabaudi</i>, as a function of the time since infection, implicitly assuming that parasites have perfect information about the within-host environment and how it is changing. We extend that theory to ask which cue(s) <i>should</i> parasites use? Put another way, which cue(s) maximize parasite fitness, quantified as host infectiousness during acute infection? Our results show that sensing a parasite-associated cue, e.g., the abundance of infected red blood cells or transmission stages, allows parasites to achieve fitness approaching that of the optimal time-varying strategy, but only when parasites perceive the cue non-linearly, responding more sensitively to changes at low densities. However, no single cue can recreate the best time-varying strategy or allow parasites to adopt terminal investment as the infection ends, a classic expectation for reproductive investment. Sensing two cues—log-transformed infected and uninfected red blood cell abundance—enables parasites to accurately track the progression of the infection, permits terminal investment, and recovers the fitness of the optimal time-varying investment strategy. Importantly, parasites that detect two cues more efficiently exploit hosts, resulting in higher virulence compared with those sensing only one cue. However, parasites sensing two cues also experience larger fitness declines in the face of environmental and developmental fluctuations. Collectively, our results suggest that sensing non-redundant cues enables more optimal transmission investment but trades off against robustness in the face of environmental and developmental noise.</p></div> |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| id | Manara_67d61db80c28de632c84d4bc33a6f848 |
| identifier_str_mv | 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003081.t001 |
| network_acronym_str | Manara |
| network_name_str | ManaraRepo |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:figshare.com:article/30323181 |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| repository.mail.fl_str_mv | |
| repository.name.fl_str_mv | |
| repository_id_str | |
| rights_invalid_str_mv | CC BY 4.0 |
| spelling | Putative within-host environmental cues.Avril Wang (22404300)Megan Ann Greischar (20439303)Nicole Mideo (326660)MicrobiologyEvolutionary BiologyEcologyInfectious DiseasesSpace ScienceEnvironmental Sciences not elsewhere classifiedBiological Sciences not elsewhere classifiedput another wayplasmodium spp .</higher virulence comparedefficiently exploit hostsredundant cues enablesdetect two cueslifetime reproductive successpermits terminal investmentadopt terminal investmentreplicate asexually withinachieve fitness approachingoptimize transmission investmentspecialized transmission stagesrodent malaria parasiteplasmodium chabaudi </div >< poptimal transmission investmentmalaria parasites (<maximize parasite fitnesse ., environmentallyvarying investment strategytime since infectionsensing two withintransmission stagesvarying strategyreproductive investmentoptimal timeparticular cuesmalaria parasitesg .,investment strategies>), investmentversus stagesbest timefitness ).transformed infectedsensing nonresults suggestresults showperfect informationparasites useparasites perceivelow densitieskey determinantinfection endsimplicitly assumingdevelopmental fluctuationsderived factorsclassic expectationalso plastic<div><p>The timing of investment into reproduction is a key determinant of lifetime reproductive success (fitness). Many organisms exhibit plastic, i.e., environmentally-responsive, investment strategies, raising the questions of what environmental cues trigger responses and why organisms have evolved to respond to those particular cues. For malaria parasites (<i>Plasmodium spp.</i>), investment into the production of specialized transmission stages (versus stages that replicate asexually within the host) is synonymous with reproductive investment and also plastic, responding to host- and parasite-derived factors. Previous theory has identified optimal plastic transmission investment strategies for the rodent malaria parasite, <i>Plasmodium chabaudi</i>, as a function of the time since infection, implicitly assuming that parasites have perfect information about the within-host environment and how it is changing. We extend that theory to ask which cue(s) <i>should</i> parasites use? Put another way, which cue(s) maximize parasite fitness, quantified as host infectiousness during acute infection? Our results show that sensing a parasite-associated cue, e.g., the abundance of infected red blood cells or transmission stages, allows parasites to achieve fitness approaching that of the optimal time-varying strategy, but only when parasites perceive the cue non-linearly, responding more sensitively to changes at low densities. However, no single cue can recreate the best time-varying strategy or allow parasites to adopt terminal investment as the infection ends, a classic expectation for reproductive investment. Sensing two cues—log-transformed infected and uninfected red blood cell abundance—enables parasites to accurately track the progression of the infection, permits terminal investment, and recovers the fitness of the optimal time-varying investment strategy. Importantly, parasites that detect two cues more efficiently exploit hosts, resulting in higher virulence compared with those sensing only one cue. However, parasites sensing two cues also experience larger fitness declines in the face of environmental and developmental fluctuations. Collectively, our results suggest that sensing non-redundant cues enables more optimal transmission investment but trades off against robustness in the face of environmental and developmental noise.</p></div>2025-10-09T18:12:56ZDatasetinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiondataset10.1371/journal.pbio.3003081.t001https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Putative_within-host_environmental_cues_/30323181CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/303231812025-10-09T18:12:56Z |
| spellingShingle | Putative within-host environmental cues. Avril Wang (22404300) Microbiology Evolutionary Biology Ecology Infectious Diseases Space Science Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified put another way plasmodium spp .</ higher virulence compared efficiently exploit hosts redundant cues enables detect two cues lifetime reproductive success permits terminal investment adopt terminal investment replicate asexually within achieve fitness approaching optimize transmission investment specialized transmission stages rodent malaria parasite plasmodium chabaudi </ div >< p optimal transmission investment malaria parasites (< maximize parasite fitness e ., environmentally varying investment strategy time since infection sensing two within transmission stages varying strategy reproductive investment optimal time particular cues malaria parasites g ., investment strategies >), investment versus stages best time fitness ). transformed infected sensing non results suggest results show perfect information parasites use parasites perceive low densities key determinant infection ends implicitly assuming developmental fluctuations derived factors classic expectation also plastic |
| status_str | publishedVersion |
| title | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| title_full | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| title_fullStr | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| title_short | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| title_sort | Putative within-host environmental cues. |
| topic | Microbiology Evolutionary Biology Ecology Infectious Diseases Space Science Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified put another way plasmodium spp .</ higher virulence compared efficiently exploit hosts redundant cues enables detect two cues lifetime reproductive success permits terminal investment adopt terminal investment replicate asexually within achieve fitness approaching optimize transmission investment specialized transmission stages rodent malaria parasite plasmodium chabaudi </ div >< p optimal transmission investment malaria parasites (< maximize parasite fitness e ., environmentally varying investment strategy time since infection sensing two within transmission stages varying strategy reproductive investment optimal time particular cues malaria parasites g ., investment strategies >), investment versus stages best time fitness ). transformed infected sensing non results suggest results show perfect information parasites use parasites perceive low densities key determinant infection ends implicitly assuming developmental fluctuations derived factors classic expectation also plastic |