To block or not to block: The adaptive manipulation of plague transmission

Sylvain Gandon (1) , Louise Heitzmann (1) , Florent Sebbane (2)

1 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
2 CIIL - Centre d’Infection et d’Immunité de Lille - INSERM U 1019 - UMR 9017 - UMR 8204

The ability of the agent of plague, Yersinia pestis, to form a biofilm blocking the gut of the flea has been considered to be a key evolutionary step in maintaining flea-borne transmission. However, blockage decreases dramatically the life expectancy of fleas, challenging the adaptive nature of blockage. Here, we develop an epidemiological model of plague that accounts for its different transmission routes, as well as the within-host competition taking place between bacteria within the flea vector. We use this theoretical framework to identify the environmental conditions promoting the evolution of blockage. We also show that blockage is favored at the onset of an epidemic, and that the frequencies of bacterial strains exhibiting different strategies of blockage can fluctuate in seasonal environments. This analysis quantifies the contribution of different transmission routes in plague and makes testable predictions on the adaptive nature of blockage.

Mots clés: Biofilm; epidemiology; evolution; flea blockage; multi‐host pathogens; parasite manipulation; plague; transmission

Domaines: Evolution [q-bio.PE]

Sylvain Gandon, Louise Heitzmann, Florent Sebbane. To block or not to block: The adaptive manipulation of plague transmission. Evolution Letters, 2019, 3 (2), pp.152-161. ⟨10.1002/evl3.111⟩. ⟨hal-02398556⟩