Using ecological stoichiometry to understand and predict infectious diseases

Sanders, Andrew J.; Taylor, Barrie F.

doi:10.1111/oik.05418

Cited by 16 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Additionally, the availability of many elements in soil (including N, P, K, Zn, and others) can impact the prevalence and severity of infectious disease in crops through several mechanisms, with substantial consequences for yields (Dordas, 2008;Veresoglou et al, 2013). These effects have not previously been studied from a stoichiometric perspective, although elemental ratios mediate many infectious disease processes (Sanders and Taylor, 2018). Overall, human-induced shifts in the ratios of multiple elements in the environment lead to changes in both the quantity and quality of food crop production.…”

Section: Food Crop Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthropogenic changes to N and P cycles are associated with increased prevalence of many infectious diseases in human hosts (McKenzie and Townsend, 2007;Johnson et al, 2010). Although previous research has used stoichiometric theory to link biogeochemical cycles with parasite and pathogen infection in a range of non-human hosts (Aalto et al, 2015;Sanders and Taylor, 2018), this topic has not been explored in the context of human health. We outline stoichiometric effects linking infectious disease in humans with global change at two scales: through the effects of nutrition on parasite-host interactions within the human host and through environmental processes outside the human host (Figure 4).…”

Section: Infectious Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like parasites within human hosts, environmental parasites may be nutrient limited within intermediate hosts or vectors. Evidence from several disease systems indicates that shifts in the stoichiometry of the environment can cascade to alter the elemental composition or other aspects of host and vector physiology, thus altering the resources available to parasites and mediating transmission risk (Sanders and Taylor, 2018). For example, mosquitoes that consumed high quality diets as larvae matured into adults that were higher in %N, which corresponded to lower rates of Zika virus infection and transmission potential (Paige et al, 2019).…”

Section: Environmental Stoichiometry Mediates Human Infection Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elemental Ratios Link Environmental Change and Human Health

et al. 2019

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Humans have fundamentally altered the cycling of multiple elements on a global scale. These changes impact the structure and function of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, with many implications for human health. Most prior studies linking biogeochemical changes to human health have evaluated the effects of single elements in isolation. However, the relative availability of multiple elements often determines the biological impact of shifts in the concentration of a single element. The balance of multiple elements is the focus of ecological stoichiometry, which highlights the importance of elemental ratios in biological function across all systems and scales of organization. Consequently, ecological stoichiometry is a promising framework to inform research on the links between global changes to elemental cycles and human health. We synthesize evidence that elemental ratios link global change with human health through biological processes occurring at two scales: in the environment (natural ecosystems and food systems) and within the human body. Elemental ratios in the environment impact the key ecosystem processes of productivity and biodiversity, both of which contribute to the production of food, toxins, allergens, and parasites. Elemental ratios in diet impact processes within the human body, including the function and interactions of the immune system, parasites, and the non-pathogenic microbiome. Collectively, these stoichiometric effects contribute to a wide range of non-infectious and infectious diseases. By describing stoichiometric mechanisms linking global change, ecological processes, and human health, we hope to inspire future empirical and theoretical research on this theme.

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Section: Food Crop Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Infectious Diseasementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Environmental Stoichiometry Mediates Human Infection Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elemental Ratios Link Environmental Change and Human Health

et al. 2019

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“…Ecological stoichiometry (ES) is the study of the balances of elements and energy in ecosystems, which have profound effects on living organisms, their interactions, and associated ecological processes ( Cambardella & Elliott, 1993 ; Elser et al, 2000 ; Güsewell, 2004 ; Bradshaw, Kautsky & Kumblad, 2012 ). ES theory focuses primarily on elements required by all living organisms, so it can be readily generalized across taxa and systems ( Sanders & Taylor, 2018 ). A key concept is homeostasis: a system’s capacity to maintain constant conditions internally when external conditions vary, a fundamental property of organisms ( Kooijman, 1995 ; Cooper, 2008 ; Halvorson et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, organisms with high specific growth rates have high nutrient demands and ( inter alia ) low tissue C:nutrient ratios, low N:P ratios, and potentially competitive advantages in high-P environments, but disadvantages in low-P environments. Hence, plants’ abilities to compete for nutrients depend on both their tissue nutrient contents and life history traits ( Mulder & Elser, 2009 ; González et al, 2010 ; Sanders & Taylor, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homeostatic responses and growth of Leymus chinensis under incrementally increasing saline-alkali stress

Huang

2021

PeerJ

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Despite considerable tolerance to salt and alkali stress, Leymus chinensis populations on the southwestern Songnen Plain in northern China are threatened by increasing soil salinity and alkalinity. To explore the species’ responses to saline-alkali stress, we grew it in substrates with varying concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) while applying varying levels of saline-alkali stress (increasing in 14-, 17- or 23 -day intervals). We measured the plants’ contents of N and P, and the N:P ratio, and calculated their homeostasis indices (HN, HP and HN:P) under each nutrient and saline-alkali stress treatment. The N content was found to be more sensitive to saline-alkali stress than the P content. The N and P contents were highest and the N:P ratio was stable at pH 8.4. At both pH 8.1 and 8.4, HN:P> HN > HP, but the indices and their relations differed at other pH values. Exposure to saline-alkali stress for the 14-day incremental interval had weaker effects on the plants. Rapid changes in salinity-alkalinity weakened both the positive effects of the weakly alkaline conditions (pH 7.5–8.4) and the negative effects of more strongly alkaline conditions (pH 8.7 or 9.3) on L. chinensis. When L. chinensis plants lack N, applying N fertilizer will be extremely efficient. The optimal concentrations of N and P appeared to be 16 and 1.2 mmol/L, respectively. When the L. chinensis plants were N- and P-limited, the specific growth rate correlated positively with N:P, when limited by N it correlated positively with the environmental N concentration, and when limited by P it was weakly positively correlated with the environmental P concentration.

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Divvying up the pie: Tissue nutrient content is related to its parasite load

Stanley,

Valentine,

Narr

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The nutrient content of host resources can influence the abundance of parasites within an ecosystem, but linking specific nutrients in a host to the abundance of different parasite taxa remains a challenge. Here, we work to forge this link by quantifying the relationship between the nutrient content of specific infection sites and the abundance of multiple parasite taxa within the digestive tract of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) collected from the Mississippi River. To generate a mechanistic understanding of these relationships, we tested four basic predictions: (1) the nutrient content of different host tissues (infection sites) varies within and across hosts, (2) the nutrient content of parasite genera differs from that of their host tissue(s), (3) the nutrient content of parasite genera differ from one another and (4) the nutrient content of host tissues is related to the nutrient content and abundance of parasite genera. We found support for each of these predictions. We found stoichiometric differences between the digestive tissues we examined. We also found that across hosts, intestine and pyloric caeca C:N ratios increased and %N decreased with fish condition factor. Both of the actively feeding parasitic genera we measured had lower C:N ratios compared to both their host tissue and other encysted/non‐reproductive genera, suggesting the potential for N limitation of these parasites in the intestines or pyloric caeca of hosts. Consistent with this possibility, we found that the total number of actively feeding parasitic worms in the pyloric caeca increased with that tissue's N:P ratio (but was not related to host condition factor). Our results suggest that parasites encounter significant variation in nutrient content within and across hosts and that this variation may influence the abundance of actively feeding parasites. This work highlights the need for additional empirical comparisons of parasite stoichiometry across tissues and individual hosts.

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Using ecological stoichiometry to understand and predict infectious diseases

Cited by 16 publications

References 88 publications

Elemental Ratios Link Environmental Change and Human Health

Elemental Ratios Link Environmental Change and Human Health

Homeostatic responses and growth of Leymus chinensis under incrementally increasing saline-alkali stress

Divvying up the pie: Tissue nutrient content is related to its parasite load

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