@article{debarre_evolution_2012,
Author = {Débarre, F. and Lion, S. and van Baalen, M. and
Gandon, S.},
Title = {Evolution of host life-history traits in a spatially
structured host-parasite system},
Journal = {The American Naturalist},
Volume = {179},
Number = {1},
Pages = {52--63},
Keywords = {Animals, Biological Evolution, Computer Simulation,
Genetic Variation, Host-Parasite Interactions, Life
Cycle Stages, Models, Biological, Population Dynamics,
Selection, Genetic, Stochastic Processes},
abstract = {Most models for the evolution of host defense against
parasites assume that host populations are not
spatially structured. Yet local interactions and
limited dispersal can strongly affect the evolutionary
outcome, because they significantly alter
epidemiological feedbacks and the spatial genetic
structuring of the host and pathogen populations. We
provide a general framework to study the evolution of a
number of host life-history traits in a spatially
structured host population infected by a horizontally
transmitted parasite. Our analysis teases apart the
selective pressures on hosts and helps disentangle the
direct fitness effect of mutations and their indirect
effects via the influence of spatial structure on the
genetic, demographic, and epidemiological structure of
the host population. We then illustrate the
evolutionary consequences of spatial structure by
focusing on the evolution of two host defense
strategies against parasitism: suicide upon infection
and reduced transmission. Because they bring no direct
fitness benefit, these strategies are counterselected
or selectively neutral in a nonspatial setting, but we
show that they can be selected for in a spatially
structured environment. Our study thus sheds light on
the evolution of altruistic defense mechanisms that
have been observed in various biological systems.},
doi = {10.1086/663199},
issn = {1537-5323},
language = {eng},
month = jan,
pmid = {22173460},
year = 2012
}