Factors affecting host specificity

Co-evolution
-co-evolution has occurred since the origin of their association.
-their has been differences and similarities between host and parasites phylogenies
that has allows us to determine the history of host-parasite coevolution.

Host
-host characteristics influence the possibility of host switches and evolutionary
changes occuring with respect to host specificity.
1)-suitable host that are not yet colonised and are able to provide a suitable living
conditions and would allow them to complete their life cycle have similarities close to
the present host used by the parasite. Similarities to the present host may be due to
phylogenetic inheritance or convergence.
-phylogenetice inheritance occurs when the suitable future host is related to the
present host.
- convergence describes the fact that the present and future host have undergone
evolution independently but still resemble the parasite’s current host.
2)-there is a high degree of specificity between the host and the parasite results in a
greater probability of local extinctions occuring of the host.parasites exploit a wide
range of hosts and thus the degree of specialization is lowered as well as the fitness.

Life history strategies

-these are due to many demographic traits- life span, body size, age at maturity and
offspring size. The demographic traits that have been favoured by selection because
they result in high fitness in particular environments rather than other possible
combinations.
-several traits being maximized simultaneously cannot occur because of phylogenetic,
physiological or physical constraints. Thus certain traits may be ore pronounced than
others. Also the combination of life history traits that evolve for host-parasitic
relationship are limited. For example- investment in the offspring size may come at
the expense of fecundity.
-external factors may affect which may be expressed more than others and the
resulting set of life history traits will show some association with the organism’s
mode of life or habitat.
-environmental changes persist over time thus there are changes occurring in the gene
frequencies in the population. The genotypes producing sets of phenotypes better
suited for the new conditions being favoured can increase over the population over
time.
-phenotypic plasticity can also occur but takes place over a longer period of
time.adaptive genetic responses can only take place over several generations and not
with in a single generation such as with environmental changes. These two processes
though differ are compatible and occur together.
-for example, if new environmental conditions favour large body sizes, individual
organisms in one generation can opt tp grow to the upper limit set by their genotype
while selection acting over several generations can increase the upper limit of sizes
that the organisms reach.

Body size
-comparisons between free living and parasitic groups have shown that parasites are
as large or maybe larger than their free living counterparts. This can be shown by
comparing the shape of the frequency distributions of their body size.
-ectoparasites are exposed to external conditions through their entire life cycle and
have varying patterns of body size similar to those of free living organisms.

Egg production in parasites

-parasite fecundity is assumed to evolve in one direction only, towards higher egg
production. Because of massive losses suffred by infective stages during transmission,
high fecundity is seen as a form of compensation ensuring that even a few organisms
make it. Contrasts between resource availiabilty in free living organisms and parasites
allows and explaination of the high fecundity in parasites. Also because parasites have
little or no shortage of food they have enough resources to maintain a high rate of egg
production.