New research from Indiana University suggests that computer models used to predict the spread of epidemics from climate change -- such as crop blights or disease outbreaks -- may not take into account an important factor in predicting their severity.
New research from Indiana University suggests that computer models used to predict the spread of epidemics from climate change -- such as crop blights or disease outbreaks -- may not take into account an important factor in predicting their severity.
A study recently published in the journal Ecology has found that pathogens that grow inside organisms at higher temperatures produce offspring that cause higher rates of infection compared to pathogens that grow inside organisms at lower temperatures. This suggests that climate can cause an "echo effect" in future pathogens, ultimately making them more infectious.
"It's well known that environment can affect offspring across generations in plants and animals," said Spencer Hall, a professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Biology, who is senior author on the study. "This study is one of the first to suggest that similar cross-generational effects occur in parasites and pathogens."
The work was led by Marta Strecker Shocket, a Ph.D. student in Hall's lab at the time of the study. Hall is also a member of the Environmental Resilience Institute at IU, part of the IU Prepared for Environmental Change Grand Challenge.
Read more at Indiana University
Image: An uninfected water flea (top right) and an infected water flea (lower left). IU researchers studied the effect of temperature on the infection of water fleas, or Daphnia, by the fungal pathogen Metschnikowia. (Credit: Meghan Duffy, University of Michigan)
