XIX.5.5 The direction of microevolution of a parasite largely depends on its mechanism of transmission

The individual species of parasites spread in the host population in various ways.The mechanism of this spreading determines the direction of evolution of most of the biological traits of parasites, including such important properties as infectiousness, rate of multiplication in the infrapopulation, virulence and pathogenicity.

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The classical Darwinian theory of evolution can explain the evolution of adaptive traits only in asexual organisms. The frozen plasticity theory is much more general: It can also explain the origin and evolution of adaptive traits in both asexual and sexual organisms Read more
Draft translation from: Evoluční biologie, 2. vydání (Evolutionary biology, 2nd edition), J. Flegr, Academia Prague 2009. The translation was not done by biologist, therefore any suggestion concerning proper scientific terminology and language usage are highly welcomed. You can send your comments to flegratcesnet [dot] cz. Thank you.