PARADIGM SHIFT ANALYZED BY THE SHIFTER. PARASITES ATTAIN EQUAL RIGHTS

PARADIGM SHIFT ANALYZED BY THE SHIFTER.

PARASITES ATTAIN EQUAL RIGHTS

Post #25

Donald A. Windsor

My article, with the above title, was published in SciAesthetics Essays 2018 December and distributed by ResearchGate on 3 December 2018. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23083.08480

Abstract:

The attitude of biologists toward parasites was shifted from contempt to appreciation by a constellation of eight articles I published during the period November 1990 through December 1998. My participation in this paradigm shift is analyzed as the flow of an idea. Citations to my articles are increasing.

The full text of this article can be obtained from Dropbox with this link.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gsxg2c6izw0c2fx/paradigm-shift-windsor.pdf?dl=0

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BIOBROKERS IN PARASITE-HOST INTERACTIONS

Post #18

BIOBROKERS IN PARASITE-HOST INTERACTIONS

Donald A. Windsor

I hypothesize that other species may be involved in parasite-host interactions.

In my previous post #17, I speculated that probiotics may be involved. But after further research revealed that the terms “probiotic” and “contrabiotic” are already in widespread use, so I will not use them.

Instead I will use the term “biobroker”. A broker facilitates transactions between sellers and buyers. A biobroker facilitates interactions between parasites and hosts. Biobrokers are probably microorganisms, but could be any other organisms, including other parasites.

Just as a financial transaction can occur without a broker, a parasite can infect/infest a host without a biobroker. However, some transactions are much smoother with a broker, because the broker may be able to work out a good deal for both participants.

Parasites must convince hosts to accept them. It seems that this convincing is usually of the “offer they cannot refuse” type of bullying. Parasites are usually host specific, showing that most other possible hosts are not convinced to accept the parasite and meet such overtures with rejection.

Evolution is all about evading extinction. Parasites may benefit their hosts, at the species level, by helping them survive. When a host species survives, its parasite species stand a better chance at surviving.

When a host species goes extinct, its parasite species will also go extinct, unless it is already in other species of hosts. A parasite species that has only one host species will survive its host species extinction only if it can find another species of host.

Here is where biobrokers can save the parasite species, by helping find new host species.

Parasites carrying the appropriate bacteria would be more successful infecting hosts compared to parasites without these bacteria. These bacteria would be probiotic for the parasites and contrabiotic for their hosts. Likewise, if the hosts were harboring bacteria that would thwart the parasites, those bacteria would be probiotic for the hosts and contrabiotic for the parasites. Biobrokers are both probiotic and contrabiotic and all gradations in between.

Right now, this hypothesis is pure speculation. I am looking for some real-world examples.

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PROBIOTICS AND PARASITES

Post # 17

PROBIOTICS AND PARASITES

Donald A. Windsor

Probiotic bacterial coatings on seeds enable plants to endure stresses, such as drought, and produce better crop yields. Indigo Agriculture is the company that is developing these coatings (1).

Could parasites, especially those that enter hosts’ bodies, naturally carry along their own probiotic bacteria? Probiotics might be the parasites’ way of preparing their hosts for enduring the stresses of their burden. Some parasites may even be able to be probiotics themselves. I have often wondered if parasites actually help their hosts bear the afflictions they cause.

In fact, a parasite has already been reported as being a probiotic. The haemoflagellate, Leishmania mexicana, protects its phlebotomine sand fly vector, Lutzomyia longipalpis, from the pathogenic bacterium, Serratia marcescens (2).

Could probiotics partially explain why some parasite species have intermediate hosts? Perhaps larval stages pickup probiotic bacteria from their intermediate hosts and carry them to their definitive hosts.

Probiotics may even explain host specificity and could offer a way to conserve parasites by providing new hosts.

Other microbes besides bacteria, such as fungi and even viruses, could also be probiotic.

Probiotics might also be useful in the therapy of pathogenic parasites. A probiotic is being tested as a treatment of white-nose syndrome in bats, an often fatal disease caused by a fungus (3).

I suspect that there is a lot more to the involvements of probiotics in ecosystems. I am now investigating.

References cited:

1. Anon. Less pesticide, more bacteria (That’s a good thing). Bloomberg Bussinessweek 2018 April 23; (4566): 25-26.

2. Sant’Anna, Mauricio R.V. ; Diaz-Albiter, Hector ; Aguiar-Martins, Kelsilandia ; Al Salem, Waleed S. ; Cavalcante, Reginaldo R. ; Dillon, Viv M. ; Bates, Paul A. ; Genta, Fernando A. ; Dillon Rod J. Colonisation resistance in the sand fly gut: Leishmania protects Lutzoyia longipalpis from bacterial infection. Parasites & Vectors 2014 July 23; 7: 329-338.

3. Oosthoek, Sharon. Bats to the wall. New Scientist 2018 April 21; 238(3174): 42-43.

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27 YEARS OF "EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PARASITES"

27 YEARS OF “EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PARASITES”

Post # 16

Donald A. Windsor

My catchy slogan, “Equal rights for parasites”, first appeared in the public domain in 1990 in Nature. Its most recent appearance was in 2017, 27 years later in the same journal.

Here is a bibliography of its published appearances over those years in my articles.

Windsor, Donald A. Heavenly hosts. Nature 1990 Nov 8; 348(6297): 104.

Windsor, Donald A. Guest Editorial. Equal rights for parasites. Conservation Biology 1995 Feb; 9(1): 1-2.

Windsor, Donald A. Editorial – Bird parasites. The Kingbird 1996 September; 46(3): 190-2.

Windsor, Donald A. Stand up for parasites. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1997 Jan; 12(1): 32.

Windsor, Donald A. Equal rights for parasites. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 1997 Winter; 40(2): 222-229.

Windsor, Donald A. Equal rights for parasites. BioScience 1998 Apr; 48(4):244.

Windsor, Donald A. Most of the species on Earth are parasites. International Journal for Parasitology 1998 December; 28(12): 1939-1941.

Windsor, Donald A. Parasites’ rights gaining ground. Nature 2017 December 21/28; 552(7685): 334.

A Google search for “equal rights for parasites” (quotes necessary) turns up numerous pages of citations. This slogan is well entrenched in the scientific literature. I certainly hope that it is heeded.

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COULD A PARADIGM ABOUT PARASITES EVER SHIFT THE TRADITIONAL PARADIGM OF ECOLOGY?

COULD A PARADIGM ABOUT PARASITES EVER SHIFT

THE TRADITIONAL PARADIGM OF ECOLOGY?

Posting # 14

Donald A. Windsor

When a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

When a paradigm shifts and no one in the scientific community notices, does it make any difference?

The tree question was asked by philosopher George Berkley in 1710. I ask my my paradigm question now. The vital role of paradigm shifts in science was explained by Thomas S. Kuhn in 1962.

My paradigm about parasites was published in 1998. I was advocating a paradigm shift. The newly formed concept in my paradigm turns ecology upside down and inside out.

Here is a brief backstory. My dissertation research involved parasites, but upon leaving school in 1966 my employment dealt with other subjects. When I retired in 1994, I was curious about what when on in parasitology during the previous 28 years. So I started reading the parasitology literature where I left off. When I finished in 1997 I experienced a shocking realization. Parasite species seem to be more numerous than their host species. Moreover, the important roles that parasites play in ecosystems seemed to be woefully understated and even vastly unrecognized.

Twenty years will soon have elapsed and, while my article has been cited 197 times, ecologistsists have not yet recognized this new paradigm as a shift. Maybe they never will. Regardless of what happens, I am getting too old to ever find out. Here is a brief synopsis.

The ruling paradigm in ecology holds that our biosphere is composed of free-living (non-parasitic) organisms, with parasites merely being pesky nuisances.

My paradigm contends that parasites are ubiquitous, insidious managers of our biosphere. They do not merely freeload off their hosts – parasites regulate their hosts. When competition and predation do not reign in host populations, parasites take over and prevent monocultures. The result is biodiversity. A corollary is even more astounding; some parasites enable their hosts to avoid extinction.

The validity of my paradigm can be tested, just as any other hypothesis can. If another planet, or even an asteroid, has life, but does not have parasites, then it will have few species and have large monocultures. My paradigm contends that parasitism is a property of life on Earth. Discovery of extraterrestrial life will reveal whether parasitism is a universal property of life.

I hope my paradigm becomes the current paradigm before we contaminate other worlds with our organisms and jeopardize this test.

References cited:

Berkley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. 1710.

Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 3^rd Edition. 1996. 212 pages.

Windsor, Donald A. Most of the species on Earth are parasites.
International Journal for Parasitology 1998 December; 28(12): 1939-1941.

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