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Multiple origins of parasitic feminization: thelygeny and intersexuality in beach-hoppers are caused by paramyxid parasites, not microsporidia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2017

JAMES PICKUP
Affiliation:
Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DA, UK
JOSEPH EDWARD IRONSIDE*
Affiliation:
Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DA, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DA, UK. E-mail: jei@aber.ac.uk

Summary

Within populations of the amphipod crustaceans Orchestia gammarellus and Orchestia aestuarensis, a proportion of females produce thelygenic (female-only) broods, which often contain intersexual individuals. This phenomenon is associated with the presence of two putative feminizing parasites, the paramyxid Paramarteilia orchestiae and the microsporidian Dictyocoela cavimanum, which frequently co-infect the same host. In order to determine which of the parasites causes feminization, Orchestia were resampled from the type locality of P. orchestiae in France and from another population in the UK. Breeding experiments indicated that female O. gammarellus infected with P. orchestiae produced a significantly higher proportion of female and intersex offspring than uninfected females, even in the absence of D. cavimanum. There was no difference in mortality between infected and uninfected broods, indicating that the paramyxid alters the sex ratio through feminization rather than male-killing. Although D. cavimanum also displays a female-biased prevalence in Orchestia populations, this is due to co-infection with P. orchestiae, indicating that the paramyxid, rather than the microsporidian, is the cause of feminization in these Orchestia populations.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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