Florence Débarre

Collège de France

Spatial structure and the evolution of altruistic host defence strategies

[When and where]

Most models for the evolution of host defence against parasites assume that host populations are not spatially structured. Yet local interactions and limited dispersal can strongly affect the evolutionary outcome, because they significantly alter epidemiological feedbacks and the spatial genetic structuring of the host and pathogen populations. In this talk, I will present a framework to study the evolution of a number of host life-history traits in a spatially structured host population infected by a horizontally transmitted parasite. This analysis teases apart the selective pressures on hosts and helps disentangle the direct fitness effect of mutations and their indirect effects via the influence of spatial structure on the genetic, demographic, and epidemiological structure of the host population. In light of this framework, I will compare the evolution of resistance vs. tolerance defence strategies, and highlight the different consequences of fitness costs.

florence.debarre@normalesup.org

Invited talk Mini-symposium 1

Updated May 14, 2015, by Minus