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Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies

Titelangaben

Konrad, Matthias ; Vyleta, Meghan L. ; Theis, Fabian J. ; Stock, Miriam ; Tragust, Simon ; Klatt, Martina ; Drescher, Verena ; Marr, Carsten ; Ugelvig, Line V. ; Cremer, Sylvia:
Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies.
In: PLoS Biology. Bd. 10 (2012) Heft 4 . - e1001300.
ISSN 1545-7885
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300

Abstract

Due to the omnipresent risk of epidemics, insect societies have evolved sophisticated disease defences at the individual and colony level. An intriguing yet little understood phenomenon is that social contact to pathogen-exposed individuals reduces susceptibility of previously naive nestmates to this pathogen. We tested whether such social immunisation in Lasius ants against the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae is based on active upregulation of the immune system of nestmates following contact to an infectious individual or passive protection via transfer of immune effectors among group members-that is, active versus passive immunisation. We found no evidence for involvement of passive immunisation via transfer of antimicrobials among colony members. Instead, intensive allogrooming behaviour between naive and pathogen-exposed ants before fungal conidia firmly attached to their cuticle suggested passage of the pathogen from the exposed individuals to their nestmates. By tracing fluorescence-labelled conidia we indeed detected frequent pathogen transfer to the nestmates, where they caused low-level infections as revealed by growth of small numbers of fungal colony forming units from their dissected body content. These infections rarely led to death, but instead promoted an enhanced ability to inhibit fungal growth and an active upregulation of immune genes involved in antifungal defences (defensin and prophenoloxidase, PPO). Contrarily, there was no upregulation of the gene cathepsin L, which is associated with antibacterial and antiviral defences, and we found no increased antibacterial activity of nestmates of fungus-exposed ants. This indicates that social immunisation after fungal exposure is specific, similar to recent findings for individual-level immune priming in invertebrates. Epidemiological modeling further suggests that active social immunisation is adaptive, as it leads to faster elimination of the disease and lower death rates than passive immunisation. Interestingly, humans have also utilised the protective effect of low-level infections to fight smallpox by intentional transfer of low pathogen doses ("variolation" or "inoculation").

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Publikationsform: Artikel in einer Zeitschrift
Begutachteter Beitrag: Ja
Zusätzliche Informationen: BAYCEER111901
Institutionen der Universität: Fakultäten > Fakultät für Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften > Fachgruppe Biologie > Lehrstuhl Tierökologie I
Fakultäten > Fakultät für Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften > Fachgruppe Biologie > Professur Populationsökologie der Tiere > Professur Populationsökologie der Tiere - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Heike Feldhaar
Forschungseinrichtungen > Zentrale wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen > Bayreuther Zentrum für Ökologie und Umweltforschung - BayCEER
Fakultäten
Fakultäten > Fakultät für Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften
Fakultäten > Fakultät für Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften > Fachgruppe Biologie
Fakultäten > Fakultät für Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften > Fachgruppe Biologie > Professur Populationsökologie der Tiere
Forschungseinrichtungen
Forschungseinrichtungen > Zentrale wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen
Titel an der UBT entstanden: Nein
Themengebiete aus DDC: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 500 Naturwissenschaften
500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Eingestellt am: 24 Apr 2015 14:21
Letzte Änderung: 10 Okt 2023 07:10
URI: https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/10867