Sequencing technologies have fuelled a rapid rise in descriptions of microbial communities
associated with hosts, but what is often harder to ascertain is the evolutionary significance of …

The virulence of pathogenic microbes can depend on individual cells cooperating in the
concerted production of molecules that facilitate host colonization or exploitation. However …

Simultaneous infection by multiple parasite species (viruses, bacteria, helminths, protozoa
or fungi) is commonplace. Most reports show co-infected humans to have worse health than …

Exploiters (parasites and predators) are thought to play a significant role in diversification,
and ultimately speciation, of their hosts or prey,,. Exploiters may drive sympatric (within …

An animal's social behaviour both influences and changes in response to its parasites. Here
we consider these bidirectional links between host social behaviours and parasite infection …

Models of the evolution of parasite virulence have focused on computing the evolutionarily
stable level of virulence favored by tradeoffs within a host and by competition for hosts, and …

The use of iron as a cofactor in basic metabolic pathways is essential to both pathogenic
microorganisms and their hosts. It is also a pivotal component of the innate immune …

In many epidemiological models of microparasitic infections it is assumed that the infection
process is governed by the mass–action principle, ie that the infection rate per host and per …

Recent advances in our knowledge of parasitic and mutualistic associations have confirmed
the central role of coevolutionary interactions in population and community ecology. Here …

Although the majority of animals and plants, including humans, are dominated by the diploid
phase of their life cycle, extensive diversity in ploidy level exists among eukaryotes, with …