Michal Polak
University of Cincinnati, OH·Ecology & Evolution
Some individuals catch parasites far more easily than others, and parasites harm their hosts' survival and reproduction. If resisting parasites is so useful, why doesn't every individual evolve strong defenses?
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Biology
Genetics
- Topics
host-parasite interactions
parasite resistance
costs of resistance
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Test for trade-offs between evolved resistance to mite ectoparasites and major life-history traits such as reproductive output in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
- Identify and compare the molecular and metabolomic factors, meaning genes and small metabolic molecules, that cause mite resistance and its trade-offs in two Drosophila-mite host-parasite systems.
- Identify the physiological and anatomical mechanisms that underlie the fitness costs of parasite resistance in Drosophila, linking them to whole-organism fitness.
More about the research
A leading explanation is that resistance has a cost. When parasites are absent, resistant individuals may pay through lower performance in other areas, such as producing fewer offspring. These trade-offs could keep genetic variation in defenses alive within a population. Little is known about the genetic and physiological basis of such costs in animals, compared with plants and microbes.
Why it matters
Understanding why parasite resistance carries costs could inform better pest control in agriculture and new ways to control insects that carry human diseases. The work also adds animal data to a field built mostly on plants and microbes. This helps explain how hosts evolve to reduce the harm caused by parasites.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Mark Haussmann
Bucknell University, PA·Ecology & Evolution
Identify the molecular, cellular and whole-body performance traits that explain why some Leach's storm-petrels show the expected trade-off between reproducing and surviving while others escape it, guided by a 70-year population record.
Mark Phillips
Oregon State University, OR·Ecology & Evolution
Identify factors that drive differences in rates of senescence, or biological aging, by applying metabolomic profiling and 3D electron microscopy to fruit fly populations evolved with very different lifespans and life histories.
Stanislava Chtarbanova
University of Alabama, AL·Microbiology & Immunology
Determine whether older fruit flies survive Flock House Virus infection through infection tolerance, by changing their metabolism to limit damage, using genetic, molecular and metabolic methods.
The school
University of Cincinnati: 18 labs on PI Pages, $740M a year on research, 275 research doctorates a year.
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