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Gregarine infection accelerates larval development of the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2017

M. E. ALARCÓN ,
A. JARA-F. ,
R. C. BRIONES ,
A. K. DUBEY  and
C. H. SLAMOVITS
M. E. ALARCÓN
Affiliation:
Liceo Alemán del Verbo Divino Lynch 350 Los Ángeles, Bío-Bío, Chile
A. JARA-F.
Affiliation:
Doctorado en Sistemática y Biodiversidad, Departamento Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
R. C. BRIONES
Affiliation:
División Manejo Ecosistémico, Programa Conservación de Fauna, Bioforest S.A. Concepción, Chile
A. K. DUBEY*
Affiliation:
Forest Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India
C. H. SLAMOVITS
Affiliation:
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
*
*Corresponding author: Forest Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute, New Forest, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

A high degree of specialization between host and parasite is a well-known outcome of a long history of coevolution, and it is strikingly illustrated in a coordination of their life cycles. In some cases, the arms race ensued at the establishment of a symbiotic relationship results in the adoption of manipulative strategies by the parasite. We have already learned that Steinina ctenocephali, a gregarine living in the alimentary canal of cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis follows its phenology and metamorphosis. Despite these findings the outcome of their symbiotic partnership (mutualist, parasitic or commensal) remains unclear. To address this important question, we measured life history parameters of the flea in the presence of varying infection intensities of gregarine oocysts in laboratory conditions. We found that neither the emergence nor survival rate of fleas was affected by harbouring the gregarines. More surprisingly, our results show that flea larvae infected with gregarines developed faster and emerged earlier than the control group. This gregarine therefore joins the selected group of protists that can modify physiological host traits and provides not only new model taxa to be explored in an evolutionary scenario, but also potential development of control strategies of cat flea.

Keywords

Ctenocephalides felisSteinina ctenocephalioocyst concentrationsurvival curveflea development
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 144 , Issue 4 , April 2017 , pp. 419 - 425
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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