tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094038346173044955.post4372444139816237345..comments2024-03-27T19:39:11.723-04:00Comments on Parasite of the Day: Tetrabothrius bassaniSusan Perkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05944116263349266952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094038346173044955.post-87923200660288274772015-07-07T12:36:05.206-04:002015-07-07T12:36:05.206-04:00Sounds plausible, once the amount of toxins in the...Sounds plausible, once the amount of toxins in the environment gets high enough. The worms might even become endosymbionts to their hosts.Christina Widmannnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6094038346173044955.post-38247942088118832192013-07-24T11:31:02.739-04:002013-07-24T11:31:02.739-04:00The ability of certain intestinal parasites to acc...The ability of certain intestinal parasites to accumulate heavy metals and, possibly, other toxins has been of interest to me since I read of the phenomenon several years ago. I have wondered, then, could an infection with such a toxin sequestering parasite ever be beneficial to a given host? Especially in areas where the bioavailability of said toxins is especially high, could selection pressure favor individuals parasitized by parasites with the ability to scavenge toxins? I feel this is worth investigating, at any rate. Sure, the host may have to share some of its resources with the parasite (depending on the parasite load and the species) but isn't that much better than, say, cadmium poisoning which is downright nasty. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16257052001558137769noreply@blogger.com