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. 2015 Jan 8:6:5975.
doi: 10.1038/ncomms6975.

Co-infection alters population dynamics of infectious disease

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Co-infection alters population dynamics of infectious disease

Hanna Susi et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Co-infections by multiple pathogen strains are common in the wild. Theory predicts co-infections to have major consequences for both within- and between-host disease dynamics, but data are currently scarce. Here, using common garden populations of Plantago lanceolata infected by two strains of the pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis, either singly or under co-infection, we find the highest disease prevalence in co-infected treatments both at the host genotype and population levels. A spore-trapping experiment demonstrates that co-infected hosts shed more transmission propagules than singly infected hosts, thereby explaining the observed change in epidemiological dynamics. Our experimental findings are confirmed in natural pathogen populations-more devastating epidemics were measured in populations with higher levels of co-infection. Jointly, our results confirm the predictions made by theoretical and experimental studies for the potential of co-infection to alter disease dynamics across a large host-pathogen metapopulation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Co-infection increases disease prevalence.
P. plantaginis epidemics in common garden P. lanceolata plots representing qualitative (a), quantitative (b), and susceptible (c) resistance strategies. Disease severity, measured as proportion of infected leaves, is shown at 17, 31, 53 and 76 days post inoculation (DPI) for the three pathogen treatments: strain 3 singly (green), strain 10 singly (blue) and co-infection of strains 3 and 10 (red). (d) Mean disease severity across P. lanceolata genotypes measured at the highest peak of epidemics (53 days after inoculation) comparing single infections (3=green and 10=blue) to co-infection treatment (red). Error bars are based on s.e.m.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Co-infection increases spore release and pathogen transmission.
Singly inoculated plants shown in blue and green and co-inoculated plants in red. (a) Mean number of spores caught on microscope slides from singly inoculated (3=green and 10=blue) and co-inoculated (red) plants. (b) The proportion of live leaf traps that became infected. Error bars are based on s.e.m.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Co-infection is common in natural populations.
Map of the relative probability to detect co-infection versus single strain infection in the P. plantaginis metapopulation in the Åland Islands in 2012. The smoothing bandwidth of the kernel was set to 1,258 m (the estimated range obtained with the spatial Bayesian logistic regression model). The probability of detecting a co-infected host is indicated by the colour scale, from blue (low probability of co-infection) to red (high probability of co-infection). Sampling sites are shown by grey points.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Co-infection causes a rapid increase in epidemics.
The increase in pathogen population size between July and September measured as the number of infected host plants in populations with varying levels of co-infection. The co-infection level of the 135 populations is shown by different colours as indicated in the legend. Error bars are based on s.e.m.

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