ReviewHeredity2015
The evolutionary ecology of complex lifecycle parasites: linking phenomena with mechanisms.
Review in Heredity, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- A global analysis of population differentiation at the major histocompatibility complex genes across tetrapods.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2026Article
- The Identification of Digramma interrupta (Diphyllobothriidae: Ligula) in a Captive Red-Crowned Crane and a Crucian Carp Reveals a New Case for Co-Occurrence.Acta parasitologica · 2026Article
- Beyond genomes: functional signatures reveal evolutionary patterns across the tree of life.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Intracellular Parasitic Infections Caused byVaccines · 2025Review
- Evolution of parasitism-related traits in nematodes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Host-Associated Genetic Differentiation in the Face of Ongoing Gene Flow: Ecological Speciation in a Pathogenic Parasite of Freshwater Fish.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- A Spectacular Northeast Pacific Invasion by a Low Genetic Diversity Parasite,Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Parasite spillover rather than niche expansion explains infection of host brain by diplostomid eye flukes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Molecular xenomonitoring of Schistosoma mansoni infections in Biomphalaria choanomphala at Lake Victoria, East Africa: Assessing roles of abiotic and biotic factors.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Highly resolved genome assembly and comparative transcriptome profiling reveal genes related to developmental stages of tapewormProceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Antiparasitic activity of the iron-containing milk protein lactoferrin and its potential derivatives against human intestinal and blood parasites.Frontiers in parasitology · 2023Review
- Modeling the geographical distributions ofEcology and evolution · 2022Article
- Evolutionary consequences of vector-borne transmission: how using vectors shapes host, vector and pathogen evolution.Parasitology · 2022Review
- Parasites of Moroccan desert Coptodon guineensis (Pisces, Cichlidae): transition and resilience in a simplified hypersaline ecosystem.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2022Article
- Phanerozoic parasitism and marine metazoan diversity: dilution versus amplification.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Parasite protein phosphatases: biological function, virulence, and host immune evasion.Parasitology research · 2021Review
- Historical contingency, geography and anthropogenic patterns of exposure drive the evolution of host switching in theParasitology · 2021Article
- Ecology directs host-parasite coevolutionary trajectories across Daphnia-microparasite populations.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Article
- Molecular data reshape our understanding of the life cycles of three digeneans (Monorchiidae and Gymnophallidae) infecting the bivalve, Donax variabilis: it's just a facultative host!Parasite (Paris, France) · 2021Article
- Variation and correlations between sexual, asexual and natural enemy resistance life-history traits in a natural plant pathogen population.BMC evolutionary biology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many parasitic infections, including those of humans, are caused by complex lifecycle parasites (CLPs): parasites that sequentially infect different hosts over the course of their lifecycle. CLPs come from a wide range of taxonomic groups-from single-celled bacteria to multicellular flatworms-yet share many common features in their life histories. Theory tells us when CLPs should be favoured by selection, but more empirical studies are required in order to quantify the costs and benefits of having a complex lifecycle, especially in parasites that facultatively vary their lifecycle complexity. In this article, we identify ecological conditions that favour CLPs over their simple lifecycle counterparts and highlight how a complex lifecycle can alter transmission rate and trade-offs between growth and reproduction. We show that CLPs participate in dynamic host-parasite coevolution, as more mobile hosts can fuel CLP adaptation to less mobile hosts. Then, we argue that a more general understanding of the evolutionary ecology of CLPs is essential for the development of effective frameworks to manage the many diseases they cause. More research is needed identifying the genetics of infection mechanisms used by CLPs, particularly into the role of gene duplication and neofunctionalisation in lifecycle evolution. We propose that testing for signatures of selection in infection genes will reveal much about how and when complex lifecycles evolved, and will help quantify complex patterns of coevolution between CLPs and their various hosts. Finally, we emphasise four key areas where new research approaches will provide fertile opportunities to advance this field.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.