Adaptation to enemy shifts: rapid resistance evolution to local Vibrio spp. in invasive Pacific oysters ...

• Main Authors: Wendling, Carolin Charlotte, Wegner, K Mathias
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2014
• Subjects: Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.833020; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.833020

One hypothesis for the success of invasive species is reduced pathogen burden, resulting from a release from infections or high immunological fitness (low immunopathology) of invaders. Despite of strong selection exerted on the host, the evolutionary response of invaders to newly acquired pathogens has rarely been considered. The two independent and genetically distinct invasions of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas into the North Sea represent an ideal model system to study fast evolutionary responses of invasive populations. By exposing both invasion sources to ubiquitous and phylogenetically diverse pathogens (Vibrio spp.) we demonstrate that within a few generations hosts adapted to sympatric pathogen communities. However, this local adaptation only became apparent in selective environments, i.e. at elevated temperatures reflecting patterns of disease outbreaks in natural populations. Resistance against sympatric and allopatric Vibrio spp. strains was dominantly inherited in crosses between both ... : Supplement to: Wendling, Carolin Charlotte; Wegner, K Mathias (2015): Adaptation to enemy shifts: rapid resistance evolution to local Vibrio spp. in invasive Pacific oysters. In: preparation, Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 282(1804), 20142244-20142244 ...