Trade-offs, conflicts of interest and manipulation in Plasmodium-mosquito interactions

Abstract

A long-held view among parasitologists is that infection by malaria parasites does not harm the mosquito vector. One of the reasons for this belief is that the two partners of the association share interests in the most important life-history traits of the mosquito. Both partners benefit from increased survival and an increased rate of bloodfeeding the mosquito to increase its reproductive success and the parasite to ensure its transmission. Problems with this line of reasoning appear when one considers possible trade-offs among the mosquito's life-history parameters, which constrain the attempts by the mosquito and the parasite to maximize their success. Could these constraints differ between the two partners and thus lead to conflicts of interest and what would be the evolutionary and epidemiological consequences of conflicting interests? These questions will be investigated below.