DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Effects of Sex-Differential Parasitism on Disease Dynamicsin a Plant-Fungal System

从植物和无脊椎动物到两栖动物、鸟类和哺乳动物，感染率的性别差异广泛存在于自然种群中。性别差异也是许多人类疾病的特征，如艾滋病毒。 本研究将建立一个数学模型来研究性别特异性传播差异对疾病动力学的影响。 将建立用传粉者传播的真菌病原体Microbotryum violaceum感染的宽叶蝇子草实验种群，以估计性别内和性别间疾病传播，以及恢复、疾病诱导的不育和死亡率的性别特异性差异。为了补充实验工作，将对自然种群进行标记，以估计传播率、恢复率和存活率。研究两性系统中的疾病动力学对于指导农业、医疗和保护物种的疾病控制策略是至关重要的。这项工作将有助于了解疾病在自然人群中的传播和维持。 这个问题很重要，因为疾病驱动生态丰富，自然种群可能成为农业和人类健康重要疾病的储存库。这些严重的问题使得理解自然系统中的疾病动力学势在必行。

Sex differences in infection rates are widespread in natural populations of organisms ranging from plants and invertebrates to amphibians, birds, and mammals. Sex differences are also characteristic of many human diseases, such as HIV. This study will develop a mathematical model to investigate the effects of sex-specific differences in transmission on disease dynamics. Experimental populations of Silene latifolia infected with the pollinator-transmitted fungal pathogen Microbotryum violaceum will be established to estimate the within- and between-sex disease transmission, as well as sex-specific differences in recovery, disease-induced sterility, and mortality. To complement the experimental work, natural populations will be marked to estimate transmission, recovery, and survival rates. Studying disease dynamics in two-sex systems is fundamental for guiding disease control strategies in species of agricultural, medical, and conservation concern. This work will contribute to understanding the spread and maintenance of disease in natural populations. This issue is important because disease drives ecological abundance, and natural populations may act as reservoirs for diseases that are important in agriculture and for human health. These serious concerns make understanding disease dynamics in natural systems imperative.