T. Boulinier et al., PARENT-OFFSPRING REGRESSION SUGGESTS HERITABLE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ECTOPARASITES IN A NATURAL-POPULATION OF KITTIWAKE RISSA-TRIDACTYLA, Journal of evolutionary biology, 10(1), 1997, pp. 77-85
Little information is available on the genetic variability of host sus
ceptibility to parasites in natural populations despite its importance
for the understanding of the evolution of host-parasite interactions.
A long-term demographic and epidemiologic survey of a seabird populat
ion allowed us to investigate the potential correlation between parent
and offspring ectoparasite load, while controlling for various enviro
nmental factors. In particular, parasite loads were measured for all i
ndividuals (i.e., parents and offspring) when they were nestlings and
the effect of the year and breeding cliff were taken into account. The
positive correlation found between parent and offspring parasite load
s suggests a heritable susceptibility to ectoparasitism by ticks in th
is host population and that this character has the potential to respon
d to natural selection.