Natural selection favors females that choose parasite-resistant fathers for their offspring, because the young inherit his resistance genes and are more likely to survive as a result. Wild turkey hens that are experimentally infected with coccidia, a single-celled intestinal parasite, choose mates differently than hens that are never infected. The research funded by this grant will investigate the internal cues that females use to recognize that they are susceptible to parasitic infection, and test whether infected females are choosing to mate with males that have good genes relative to their own, and if they use male ornaments as indicators of a males genetic composition. Experimental treatment groups of wild turkey chicks will be reared in captivity so that they have different abilities to resist infection by coccidia. When they are mature, it is hypothesized that the females who had the most burdensome experience with parasites during rearing will be the ones most likely to mate with the individual male whose resistance genes are complementary to their own individual genetic makeup. This research uses an integrative mix of methods including molecular genetics, microscopy and behavioral observation. Broader impacts of the results of this study include: a) It will help ecologists understand whether animals change their behavior adaptively when suffering from parasitism, b) It will generate genetic tools against poultry parasitism, such as DNA vaccines, that might be useful for commercial turkey growers, and c) A joint community education/ introductory biology college course focused on the wild turkey will enable cooperative study of ecology and evolution in an unprecedented forum that combines traditional and non-traditional approaches to science instruction.
