Host-parasite interactions are dynamic biological processes encompassing the molecular, cellular, physiological, and ecological exchanges between a parasite and its host that determine infection establishment, persistence, and transmission. They include mechanisms of host recognition and invasion, nutrient acquisition, immune evasion and modulation by the parasite, and host immune detection, effector responses, and tolerance strategies. These interactions drive coevolutionary arms races, shaping parasite virulence, host resistance, and specificity through genetic variation and selection. At the systems level, host-parasite interactions influence pathogen life cycles, tissue tropism, and disease outcomes, integrating signaling pathways, microbiome context, and environmental factors that modulate susceptibility and epidemiological patterns.
Parasitic plants are notorious agricultural pests that drain nutrients from crops and cause economic losses of more than USD 1 billion due to yield losses every year. Yet these plants almost never attack themselves or closely ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Dec 19, 2025
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28
Why do parasites harm their hosts? That's a question evolutionary biologists ask as they try to predict how a parasite might evolve and perhaps become more lethal in response to control methods, such as vaccines or drug treatments.
Evolution
Dec 17, 2025
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15
Parasitic weeds extract water and nutrients from their host plants. But what makes these parasites so successful? A study led by Prof Susann Wicke from the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Münster ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 12, 2025
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46
A genus of fungi previously considered a parasite of fungi associated with ants may actually have much more complex ecological functions. According to a study published in the journal Communications Biology, one piece of ...
Evolution
Dec 8, 2025
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47
Researchers at LMU in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg have discovered how the parasite Toxoplasma gondii builds a specialized structure that allows it to move and invade host ...
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 2, 2025
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14
Marine viruses deploy a sophisticated Trojan horse maneuver that enables them to dismantle the energy systems of ocean bacteria and use the breakdown products for self-replication. This finding comes from a study conducted ...
Ecology
Nov 25, 2025
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23
UC Davis nematologists, including Valerie Williamson, professor emerita in the Department of Plant Pathology, and associate professor Shahid Siddique, Department of Entomology and Nematology, have long wondered how a plant-parasitic ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 19, 2025
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61
Scientists document a new form of host manipulation where an invading, parasitic ant queen "tricks" ant workers into killing their queen mother. The invading ant integrates herself into the nest by pretending to be a member ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 17, 2025
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123
European cuckoos lay very different eggs depending on the host species. Genetic analyses have revealed how this adaptation is inherited without leading to speciation.
Evolution
Oct 31, 2025
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105
Meet Heinrichiellus natgeo, a newly discovered species of parasitoid wasp. The species was described by Dr. Ranjith and Dr. Gavin R. Broad (The Natural History Museum, London, UK). Genetic data helped them determine the new ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 16, 2025
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