ArticleEvolutionary applications2009
Plastic parasites: sophisticated strategies for survival and reproduction?
Article in Evolutionary applications, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Assessment of copy number variation in genes related to drug resistance in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum isolates from the Brazilian Amazon and a systematic review of the literature.Malaria journal · 2017Pooled it
- DC8 and DC13 var genes associated with severe malaria bind avidly to diverse endothelial cells.PLoS pathogens · 2013Trial
- Plastic responses ofBiology letters · 2025Article
- Malaria parasites can optimize transmission investment by sensing two within-host cues.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Microsporidian EnP1 alters host cell H2B monoubiquitination and prevents ferroptosis facilitating microsporidia survival.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Virulence is associated with daily rhythms in the within-host replication of the malaria parasiteEvolutionary applications · 2024Article
- Article
- Evolutionary modelling indicates that mosquito metabolism shapes the life-history strategies of Plasmodium parasites.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Within- and between-host dynamics of producer and non-producer pathogens.Parasitology · 2023Article
- Biology and epidemiology ofParasite epidemiology and control · 2023Review
- Gravidity and malaria trends interact to modify P. falciparum densities and detectability in pregnancy: a 3-year prospective multi-site observational study.BMC medicine · 2022Observational
- Declines in prevalence alter the optimal level of sexual investment for the malaria parasiteProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Zika virus infection drives epigenetic modulation of immunity by the histone acetyltransferase CBP of Aedes aegypti.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Stochastic expression of invasion genes in Plasmodium falciparum schizonts.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Longitudinal impact of asymptomatic malaria/HIV-1 co-infection onFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- The private life of malaria parasites: Strategies for sexual reproduction.Molecular and biochemical parasitology · 2021Review
- HIV-1 Impact on Malaria Transmission: A Complex and Relevant Global Health Concern.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Review
- Gene Polymorphisms AmongFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Article
- Review
- Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Adaptive phenotypic plasticity in life history traits, behaviours, and strategies is ubiquitous in biological systems. It is driven by variation in selection pressures across environmental gradients and operates under constraints imposed by trade-offs. Phenotypic plasticity has been thoroughly documented for multicellular taxa, such as insects, birds and mammals, and in many cases the underlying selective pressures are well understood. Whilst unicellular parasites face many of the same selective pressures and trade-offs, plasticity in their phenotypic traits has been largely overlooked and remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that evolutionary theory, developed to explain variation observed in the life-history traits of multicellular organisms, can be applied to parasites. Though our message is general - we can expect the life-histories of all parasites to have evolved phenotypic plasticity - we focus our discussion on malaria parasites. We use an evolutionary framework to explain the trade-offs that parasites face and how plasticity in their life history traits will be expressed according to changes in their in-host environment. Testing whether variation in parasites traits is adaptive will provide new and fundamental insights into the basic biology of parasites, their epidemiology and the processes of disease during individual infections.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.