Abstract |
Recovery from infection is not always complete, and mild chronic infection may persist. Although the direct costs of such infections are apparently small, the potential for any long-term effects on Darwinian fitness is poorly understood. In a wild population of great reed warblers, we found that low-level chronic malaria infection reduced life span as well as the lifetime number and quality of offspring. These delayed fitness effects of malaria appear to be mediated by telomere degradation, a result supported by controlled infection experiments on birds in captivity. The results of this study imply that chronic infection may be causing a series of small adverse effects that accumulate and eventually impair phenotypic quality and Darwinian fitness.
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Authors | M Asghar, D Hasselquist, B Hansson, P Zehtindjiev, H Westerdahl, S Bensch |
Journal | Science (New York, N.Y.)
(Science)
Vol. 347
Issue 6220
Pg. 436-8
(Jan 23 2015)
ISSN: 1095-9203 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 25613889
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
Topics |
- Aging
(genetics)
- Animals
- Breeding
- Genetic Fitness
- Malaria
(genetics, physiopathology, veterinary)
- Malaria, Avian
(genetics, physiopathology)
- Plasmodium
- Songbirds
(genetics, parasitology, physiology)
- Telomere Homeostasis
(genetics)
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