Coinfections dampen the effects of temperature on host-parasite interactions

Coinfections dampen the effects of temperature on host-parasite interactions | bioRxiv Skip to main content Home About Submit ALERTS / RSS Search for this keyword Advanced Search New Results Coinfections dampen the effects of temperature on host-parasite interactions View ORCID Profile I. Will , View ORCID Profile C.A. Smith , View ORCID Profile T.E. Hector , View ORCID Profile K.C. King doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.10.693475 I. Will 1 Department of Biology, University of Oxford , Oxford, United Kingdom 2 Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, Canada Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for I. Will For correspondence: ian.will{at}ubc.ca C.A. Smith 1 Department of Biology, University of Oxford , Oxford, United Kingdom 3 Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Bath , Bath, United Kingdom Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for C.A. Smith T.E. Hector 1 Department of Biology, University of Oxford , Oxford, United Kingdom Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for T.E. Hector K.C. King 1 Department of Biology, University of Oxford , Oxford, United Kingdom 2 Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, Canada 4 Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia , Vancouver, Canada Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for K.C. King Abstract Full Text Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Preview PDF Abstract Coinfections by multiple parasite species are widespread and modify disease outcomes. To what degree other forms of ecological complexity, such as environmental change, influence the impacts of coinfecting parasites on disease remains unclear. We exposed nematodes ( Caenorhabditis elegans ) to naturally coinfecting parasites ( Leucobacter celer and musarum ) at temperatures across the host’s thermal range. While we found that host mortality varied widely with temperature during single infections, coinfections buffered hosts against temperature-mediated variation via ongoing parasite competition. We extended our experiments with mathematical models indicating that changing virulence, rather than transmission, most plausibly underpins temperature-dependent host mortality. At moderate, but not extreme temperatures, we found coinfection continued to dampen mortality outcomes due to another source of host variation, genotypic susceptibility. Coinfection may provide a stabilizing effect on disease in a warming world – but this effect can falter when hosts are faced with multiple stressors. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Footnotes After peer review. Figures and discussion updated. Funder Information Declared European Research Council , 802242 Natural Environment Research Council , NE/X000540/1 Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Next Posted May 16, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. 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King bioRxiv 2025.12.10.693475; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.10.693475 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Area Ecology Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (8164) Biochemistry (19027) Bioengineering (15171) Bioinformatics (45543) Biophysics (22958) Cancer Biology (20187) Cell Biology (27403) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (14189) Ecology (21468) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (25877) Genetics (16388) Genomics (23907) Immunology (19092) Microbiology (43353) Molecular Biology (18423) Neuroscience (95468) Paleontology (715) Pathology (3045) Pharmacology and Toxicology (5222) Physiology (8304) Plant Biology (16326) Scientific Communication and Education (2119) Synthetic Biology (4663) Systems Biology (10422) Zoology (2432)

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