Parasites are often patchily distributed across host populations, where some hosts are heavily parasitized, other hosts remain free from infection. Part of this variation in parasite prevalence is likely due to variation in the host's ability to resist infection. The main focus of this research is to identify factors that maintain variation in resistance to bacterial infection both within and among host populations, using the model system Drosophila melanogaster. Previous work shows that variation exists within Drosophila host populations. Using a combination of organismal and molecular approaches, the researchers extend these efforts by investigating variation across host populations, with the aim of understanding the evolutionary and ecological factors that maintain this variation.
Together, these experiments will address several important questions regarding the evolution of resistance to infection and, more generally, disease dynamics in nature. This work is particularly significant because it addresses the forces maintaining variation in host resistance across broad spatial scales, and will help scientists to further develop Drosophila as a powerful model system to study the genetics of host-parasite interactions in nature. In addition, this research has direct implications for understanding the spread and prevalence of disease in a variety of host species.
