The evolution of host specificity and the potential trade-off between being a generalist and a specialist are central issues in the evolutionary ecology of parasites. Different species of parasites or even different populations of the same species often show different degrees of host specificity. However, less is known about intraspecific variation in host specificity within a population. We in...

  Two hundred forty seven species of parasites from Iranian freshwater fishes are presented in this synopsis. The parasites were recorded from infestations in fish from different parts of the country and summarized according to host species, organs were the parasite infestations occurred, province, faunal region and reference numbers. The following aspects of parasite infestations were also dis...

Genetic diversity of fungal endophytes, Neotyphodium species, was studied in grasses Festuca arundinacea, F. pratensis and Lolium perenne using AFLP  markers. Fungi were isolated from the host leaf sheaths and Neotyphodium species were selected based on morphological characteristics. To confirm identity of selected fungi belonging to the genus Neotyphodium, polymerase chain reaction was perform...

Interspecific competition between herbivores is widely recognized as an important determinant of community structure. Although researchers have identified a number of factors capable of altering competitive interactions, few studies have addressed the influence of neighboring plant species. If adaptation to/ epigenetic effects of an herbivore's natal host plant alter its performance on other ho...

Epidemiological networks are commonly used to explore dynamics of parasite transmission among individuals in a population of a given host species. However, many parasites infect multiple host species, and thus multi-host networks may offer a better framework for investigating parasite dynamics. We investigated the factors that influence parasite sharing--and thus potential transmission pathways...

a list of 20 species of the subfamily tephritinae (diptera: tephritidae) from the urmia region (azarbaijan-e gharbi province, iran) is presented. the specimens were collected during 2005-2008 from six different localities. adults were obtained from overwintering and mature seed heads of 17 plant species of asteraceae. the species, urophora xanthippe (munro, 1934) is newly recorded for the fauna...

Chytridiomycosis, the disease caused by the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has contributed to amphibian population declines and extinctions worldwide. The impact of this pathogen, however, varies markedly among amphibian species and populations. Following invasion into some areas of California's Sierra Nevada, Bd leads to rapid declines and local extinctions of frog popula...

Determining patterns of host use, and the frequency at which these patterns change, are of key importance if we are to understand tick population dynamics, the evolution of tick biodiversity, and the circulation and evolution of associated pathogens. The question of whether ticks are typically host specialists or host generalists has been subject to much debate over the last half-century. Indee...

evaluation of genetic diversity is a considerable approach to screen within indigenous rhizobial population for compatible, highly effective strains, which can be further utilized as rhizobial inoculums. genetic diversity of rhizobium isolates from three clover species grown in soil samples of seven different geographical regions in iran was investigated by repetitive extra genomic palindromic ...