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Title: Light exposure decreases infectivity of the Daphnia parasite Pasteuria ramosa
Abstract Climate change is altering light regimes in lakes, which should impact disease outbreaks, since sunlight can harm aquatic pathogens. However, some bacterial endospores are resistant to damage from light, even surviving exposure to UV-C. We examined the sensitivity of Pasteuria ramosa endospores, an aquatic parasite infecting Daphnia zooplankton, to biologically relevant wavelengths of light. Laboratory exposure to increasing intensities of UV-B, UV-A, and visible light significantly decreased P. ramosa infectivity, though there was no effect of spore exposure on parasitic castration of infected hosts. P. ramosa is more sensitive than its Daphnia host to damage by longer wavelength UV-A and visible light; this may enable Daphnia to seek an optimal light environment in the water column, where both UV-B damage and parasitism are minimal. Studies of pathogen light sensitivity help us to uncover factors controlling epidemics in lakes, which is especially important given that water transparency is decreasing in many lakes.
Authors:
; ; ; ;
Award ID(s):
1754276 1305836
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10156637
Journal Name:
Journal of Plankton Research
Volume:
42
Issue:
1
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
41 to 44
ISSN:
0142-7873
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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