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Effects Of Hybridization And Life History Tradeoffs On Pathogen Resistance In The Harvester Ants (Pogonomyrmex), Yainna M. Hernaiz-Hernandez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A fundamental challenge faced by all organisms is the risk of infection by pathogens that can significantly reduce their fitness. The evolutionary dynamic between hosts and pathogens is expected to be a coevolutionary cycle, as pathogens evolve by increasing their level of virulence and hosts respond by increasing their level of resistance. The factors that influence the dynamics of adaptation by pathogen and host in response to one another are not well understood. Social insects live in dense colonies in high-pathogen soil environments, making them an ideal model system to study the factors influencing the evolution of pathogen resistance. In …