BACKGROUND: Congenital transmission is a major source of new Trypanosoma cruzi infections, and as vector and blood bank control continue to improve, the proportion due to congenital infection will grow. A major unanswered ...

Parasites have evolved different strategies to increase their transmission from one host to another. The Adaptive Host Manipulation hypothesis states that parasites induce modifications of host phenotypes that could maximise ...

Host age is known to influence the risk of parasite infection, but there is very little experimental evidence on whether parasites show preference towards potential hosts of a specific age. To investigate how host age ...

Before the mating flight, the gyne of leaf-cutting ants takes a small pellet of their mutualistic fungus garden to start fungus culture in its new colony by vertically transmitting it. This mutualism is threatened by the ...

Congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi is an important source of new Chagas infections worldwide. The mechanisms of congenital transmission remain poorly understood, but there is evidence that parasite factors are ...

The relationship between mistletoes and birds has been studied from the perspectives of mutualism and seed dispersal. Here, we emphasize the role that avian dispersers play as agents of mistletoe seed transmission to plant ...