Università Roma Tre

• Symbiotic interactions (phoresy, commensalism, exploitation, mutualism). Parasitism: definitions. Exploitation and trophic interactions: distinct adaptive strategies (predator/prey, parasitoid/prey, micropredators, parasite/host). Kinds of parasites: endo- and ecto-parasites, micro- and macro-parasites, obligate and facultative parasites, hyperparasites. Kinds of hosts: definitive and intermediate hosts, vectors, paratenic (transport) hosts, reservoire hosts. Mechanisms of invasion, evasion, and survival, transmission strategies. Protozoa and main Metazoan parasites: Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Acanthocephala, Pentastomida, Arthropoda; pararitism in other metazoan groups.

• Evolutionary parasitology. Origins of parasitism and transition to parasitism from a free-living ancestral life-style; resistance against the host's defense mechanisms and evolution of host specificity; complex life-cycles shaped by historical events and selective pressures; hosts as part of parasite environment and as a source of selective pressure. Host manipulation by parasites (e.g. behavioral alterations in parasitized hosts). Development of resistance, tolerance and life-history parameters in host species. Host-parasite coevolution: an evolutionary arms race and the “Red-queen” hypothesis.

• Evolutionary ecology of parasites. How complex life cycles have influenced the ecology of parasites. Evolutionary ecology of parasites at different hierarchical levels: individual, population, and community ecology. Parasitism and community structure in natural ecosystems. Parasites as ubiquitous components of ecosystems. Parasite’s influence on survival and reproduction of individual hosts, on the dynamics of host populations, and on the structure of entire communities. (A) parasites alter the flow of energy through a food web by converting host tissue into parasite tissue and (B) parasite-increased trophic transmission alters predator-prey dynamics by making infected prey easier to capture.

• Cladogenesis of parasitic taxa and co-speciation of parasite and host species. Phylogeny and ecology of host and parasite: how phylogeny may provide insights into the evolution of host and parasite associations, and how ecological data may provide insights into phylogenetic relationships. Causes of diversity in parasite life-history traits: role of selective pressure from hosts and physical environments, and role of phylogenetic constraints

• The biogeography of the host-parasite interaction.

Reference Texts and Atlas

- Parasitism: The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions, Claude Combes, 2004, University of Chicago Press (ISBN: 9780226114460)
- Evolutionary Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites, (Second Edition), Robert Poulin, 2006, Princeton University Press (ISBN: 9780691120850)
- Parasitism: The Diversity and Ecology of Animal Parasites, Albert O. Bush, Jacqueline C. Fernández, Gerald W. Esch, J. Richard Seed, 2001, Cambridge University Press (ISBN-13: 978-0521664479)
- Atlante di parassitologia, Frank Werner; Lieder Johannes, 2002, Franco Muzzio Editore (collana Scienze naturali), 3° edizione (ISBN: 978887413029)
- Manuale di parassitologia veterinaria, Genchi Marco; Traldi Giorgio; Genchi Claudio, 2010, Editore CEA (ISBN-10: 8808183483)

• Symbiotic interactions (phoresy, commensalism, exploitation, mutualism). Parasitism: definitions. Exploitation and trophic interactions: distinct adaptive strategies (predator/prey, parasitoid/prey, micropredators, parasite/host). Kinds of parasites: endo- and ecto-parasites, micro- and macro-parasites, obligate and facultative parasites, hyperparasites. Kinds of hosts: definitive and intermediate hosts, vectors, paratenic (transport) hosts, reservoire hosts. Mechanisms of invasion, evasion, and survival, transmission strategies. Protozoa and main Metazoan parasites: Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Acanthocephala, Pentastomida, Arthropoda; pararitism in other metazoan groups.

• Evolutionary parasitology. Origins of parasitism and transition to parasitism from a free-living ancestral life-style; resistance against the host's defense mechanisms and evolution of host specificity; complex life-cycles shaped by historical events and selective pressures; hosts as part of parasite environment and as a source of selective pressure. Host manipulation by parasites (e.g. behavioral alterations in parasitized hosts). Development of resistance, tolerance and life-history parameters in host species. Host-parasite coevolution: an evolutionary arms race and the “Red-queen” hypothesis.

• Evolutionary ecology of parasites. How complex life cycles have influenced the ecology of parasites. Evolutionary ecology of parasites at different hierarchical levels: individual, population, and community ecology. Parasitism and community structure in natural ecosystems. Parasites as ubiquitous components of ecosystems. Parasite’s influence on survival and reproduction of individual hosts, on the dynamics of host populations, and on the structure of entire communities. (A) parasites alter the flow of energy through a food web by converting host tissue into parasite tissue and (B) parasite-increased trophic transmission alters predator-prey dynamics by making infected prey easier to capture.

• Cladogenesis of parasitic taxa and co-speciation of parasite and host species. Phylogeny and ecology of host and parasite: how phylogeny may provide insights into the evolution of host and parasite associations, and how ecological data may provide insights into phylogenetic relationships. Causes of diversity in parasite life-history traits: role of selective pressure from hosts and physical environments, and role of phylogenetic constraints

• The biogeography of the host-parasite interaction.

Reference Texts and Atlas

- Parasitism: The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions, Claude Combes, 2004, University of Chicago Press (ISBN: 9780226114460)
- Evolutionary Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites, (Second Edition), Robert Poulin, 2006, Princeton University Press (ISBN: 9780691120850)
- Parasitism: The Diversity and Ecology of Animal Parasites, Albert O. Bush, Jacqueline C. Fernández, Gerald W. Esch, J. Richard Seed, 2001, Cambridge University Press (ISBN-13: 978-0521664479)
- Atlante di parassitologia, Frank Werner; Lieder Johannes, 2002, Franco Muzzio Editore (collana Scienze naturali), 3° edizione (ISBN: 978887413029)
- Manuale di parassitologia veterinaria, Genchi Marco; Traldi Giorgio; Genchi Claudio, 2010, Editore CEA (ISBN-10: 8808183483)