The Role of Hyperparasitism in Microbial Pathogen Ecology and Evolution

Overview

Journal ISME J

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialties Environmental Health
Microbiology

Date 2016 Jan 20

PMID 26784356

Citations 32

Authors

Steven R Parratt

Anna-Liisa Laine

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Many micro-organisms employ a parasitic lifestyle and, through their antagonistic interactions with host populations, have major impacts on human, agricultural and natural ecosystems. Most pathogens are likely to host parasites of their own, that is, hyperparasites, but how nested chains of parasites impact on disease dynamics is grossly neglected in the ecological and evolutionary literature. In this minireview we argue that the diversity and dynamics of micro-hyperparasites are an important component of natural host-pathogen systems. We use the current literature from a handful of key systems to show that observed patterns of pathogen virulence and disease dynamics may well be influenced by hyperparasites. Exploring these factors will shed light on many aspects of microbial ecology and disease biology, including resistance-virulence evolution, apparent competition, epidemiology and ecosystem stability. Considering the importance of hyperparasites in natural populations will have applied consequences for the field of biological control and therapeutic science, where hyperparastism is employed as a control mechanism but not necessarily ecologically understood.

Citing Articles

Biomathematical enzyme kinetics model of prebiotic autocatalytic RNA networks: degenerating parasite-specific hyperparasite catalysts confer parasite resistance and herald the birth of molecular immunity.

Pirovino M, Iseli C, Curran J, Conrad B PLoS Comput Biol. 2025; 21(1):e1012162.

PMID: 39752624 PMC: 11745417. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012162.

Metagenomic Analyses of Water Samples of Two Urban Freshwaters in Berlin, Germany, Reveal New Highly Diverse Invertebrate Viruses.

Zell R, Groth M, Selinka L, Selinka H Microorganisms. 2024; 12(11).

PMID: 39597750 PMC: 11596407. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12112361.

Complex transcriptional regulations of a hyperparasitic quadripartite system in giant viruses infecting protists.

Bessenay A, Bisio H, Belmudes L, Coute Y, Bertaux L, Claverie J Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):8608.

PMID: 39384766 PMC: 11464507. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52906-1.

Hyperparasitism in bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae): new records and interaction networks in the Neotropics.

Lopez-Rivera C, Robayo-Sanchez L, Ramirez-Hernandez A, Cortes-Vecino J, Cuellar-Saenz J, Villar J Parasitol Res. 2024; 123(6):255.

PMID: 38922514 PMC: 11208258. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08221-1.

Evolution of exploitation and replication of giant viruses and virophages.

Del Arco A, Fischer M, Becks L Virus Evol. 2024; 10(1):veae021.

PMID: 38562952 PMC: 10984621. DOI: 10.1093/ve/veae021.

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