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García-Cabrerizo R, Cryan JF. A gut (microbiome) feeling about addiction: Interactions with stress and social systems. Neurobiol Stress 2024; 30:100629. [PMID: 38584880 PMCID: PMC10995916 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
In recent years, an increasing attention has given to the intricate and diverse connection of microorganisms residing in our gut and their impact on brain health and central nervous system disease. There has been a shift in mindset to understand that drug addiction is not merely a condition that affects the brain, it is now being recognized as a disorder that also involves external factors such as the intestinal microbiota, which could influence vulnerability and the development of addictive behaviors. Furthermore, stress and social interactions, which are closely linked to the intestinal microbiota, are powerful modulators of addiction. This review delves into the mechanisms through which the microbiota-stress-immune axis may shape drug addiction and social behaviors. This work integrates preclinical and clinical evidence that demonstrate the bidirectional communication between stress, social behaviors, substance use disorders and the gut microbiota, suggesting that gut microbes might modulate social stress having a significance in drug addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubén García-Cabrerizo
- IUNICS, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
- Health Research Institute of the Balearic Islands (IdISBa), Palma, Spain
- Department of Medicine, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
| | - John F. Cryan
- APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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2
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Freiburger T, Miller N, Skinner M. Olfactory self-recognition in two species of snake. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240125. [PMID: 38565155 PMCID: PMC10987230 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Mark tests, in which an animal uses a mirror to locate and examine an otherwise unnoticeable mark on its own body, are commonly used to assess self-recognition, which may have implications for self-awareness. Recently, several olfactory-reliant species have appeared to pass odour-based versions of the mark test, though it has never been attempted in reptiles. We conducted an odour-based mark test on two species of snakes, Eastern gartersnakes and ball pythons, with widely divergent ecologies (i.e. terrestrial foragers that communally brumate versus semi-arboreal ambush predators that do not). We find that gartersnakes, but not ball pythons, pass the test, and a range of control tests suggest this is based on self-recognition. Gartersnakes are more social than ball pythons, supporting recent suggestions that social species are more likely to self-recognize. These results open the door to examination of the ecology of self-recognition, and suggest that this ability may evolve in response to species-specific ecological challenges, some of which may align with complexity of social structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Troy Freiburger
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3C5
| | - Noam Miller
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3C5
| | - Morgan Skinner
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3C5
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3
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Cantini D, Choleris E, Kavaliers M. Neurobiology of Pathogen Avoidance and Mate Choice: Current and Future Directions. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:296. [PMID: 38254465 PMCID: PMC10812398 DOI: 10.3390/ani14020296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Animals are under constant threat of parasitic infection. This has influenced the evolution of social behaviour and has strong implications for sexual selection and mate choice. Animals assess the infection status of conspecifics based on various sensory cues, with odours/chemical signals and the olfactory system playing a particularly important role. The detection of chemical cues and subsequent processing of the infection threat that they pose facilitates the expression of disgust, fear, anxiety, and adaptive avoidance behaviours. In this selective review, drawing primarily from rodent studies, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the detection and assessment of infection status and their relations to mate choice are briefly considered. Firstly, we offer a brief overview of the aspects of mate choice that are relevant to pathogen avoidance. Then, we specifically focus on the olfactory detection of and responses to conspecific cues of parasitic infection, followed by a brief overview of the neurobiological systems underlying the elicitation of disgust and the expression of avoidance of the pathogen threat. Throughout, we focus on current findings and provide suggestions for future directions and research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dante Cantini
- Department of Psychology, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada;
| | - Elena Choleris
- Department of Psychology, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada;
| | - Martin Kavaliers
- Department of Psychology, College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada;
- Department of Psychology, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
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4
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Esparza-Mora MA, Mazumdar T, Jiang S, Radek R, Thiem JN, Feng L, Petrašiūnaitė V, Banasiak R, Golian M, Gleske M, Lucas C, Springer A, Buellesbach J, McMahon DP. Defensive behavior is linked to altered surface chemistry following infection in a termite society. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20606. [PMID: 37996442 PMCID: PMC10667546 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42947-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The care-kill response determines whether a sick individual will be treated or eliminated from an insect society, but little is known about the physiological underpinnings of this process. We exploited the stepwise infection dynamics of an entomopathogenic fungus in a termite to explore how care-kill transitions occur, and identify the chemical cues behind these shifts. We found collective responses towards pathogen-injected individuals to vary according to severity and timing of pathogen challenge, with elimination, via cannibalism, occurring sooner in response to a severe active infection. However, injection with inactivated fungal blastospores also resulted in increased albeit delayed cannibalism, even though it did not universally cause host death. This indicates that the decision to eliminate an individual is triggered before pathogen viability or terminal disease status has been established. We then compared the surface chemistry of differently challenged individuals, finding increased amounts of long-chained methyl-branched alkanes with similar branching patterns in individuals injected with both dead and viable fungal blastospores, with the latter showing the largest increase. This coincided with the highest amounts of observed cannibalism as well as signs of severe moribundity. Our study provides new mechanistic insight into the emergent collective behaviors involved in the disease defense of a termite society.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Alejandra Esparza-Mora
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Department for Materials and Environment, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tilottama Mazumdar
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Department for Materials and Environment, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany
| | - Shixiong Jiang
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Department for Materials and Environment, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany
| | - Renate Radek
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Julian N Thiem
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Linshan Feng
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Vesta Petrašiūnaitė
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ronald Banasiak
- Department for Materials and Environment, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marek Golian
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstraße 1, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Melanie Gleske
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstraße 1, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Christophe Lucas
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte (UMR7261), CNRS-University of Tours, Tours, France
| | - Andreas Springer
- Core Facility BioSupraMol, Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jan Buellesbach
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstraße 1, 48149, Münster, Germany
| | - Dino P McMahon
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Department for Materials and Environment, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany.
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5
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Nguyen TTH, Asano T, Cronin AL. Group size rather than social status influences personal immune efficacy in a socially polymorphic bee. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20230149. [PMID: 37311547 PMCID: PMC10264099 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of group living is associated with increased pressure from parasites and pathogens. This can be offset by greater investment in personal immune defences and/or the development of cooperative immune defences (social immunity). An enduring question in evolutionary biology is whether social-immune benefits arose in response to an increased need in more complex societies, or arose early in group living and helped facilitate the evolution of more complex societies. In this study, we shed light on this question through investigating how immunity varies intraspecifically in a socially polymorphic bee. Using a novel immune assay, we show that personal antibacterial efficacy in individuals from social nests is higher than that of solitary individuals, but that this can be explained by higher densities in social nests. We conclude that personal immune effects are likely to play a role in the social/solitary transition in this species. These patterns are consistent with the idea that social immunity evolved secondarily, following the evolution of group living. The flexibility of the individual immune system may have favoured a reliance on its use during the facultative phase early in social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thi Thu Ha Nguyen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
- Center for Bee Research and Animal Technology Transfer, National Institute of Animal Science, Hanoi, 12112, Vietnam
| | - Tsukani Asano
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
| | - Adam L. Cronin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
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6
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Felden A, Dobelmann J, Baty JW, McCormick J, Haywood J, Lester PJ. Can immune gene silencing via dsRNA feeding promote pathogenic viruses to control the globally invasive Argentine ant? ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2755. [PMID: 36196505 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Pest control methods that can target pest species with limited environmental impacts are a conservation and economic priority. Species-specific pest control using RNA interference is a challenging but promising avenue in developing the next generation of pest management. We investigate the feasibility of manipulating a biological invader's immune system using double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in order to increase susceptibility to naturally occurring pathogens. We used the invasive Argentine ant as a model, targeting the immunity-associated genes Spaetzle and Dicer-1 with dsRNA. We show that feeding with Spaetzle dsRNA can result in partial target gene silencing for up to 28 days in the laboratory and 5 days in the field. Dicer-1 dsRNA only resulted in partial gene knockdown after 2 days in the laboratory. Double-stranded RNA treatments were associated with significant gene expression disruptions across immune pathways in the laboratory and to a lower extent in the field. In total, 12 viruses and four bacteria were found in these ant populations. Some changes in viral loads in dsRNA-treated groups were observed. For example, Linepithema humile Polycipivirus 2 (LhuPCV2) loads increased after 2 days of treatment with Spaetzle and Dicer-1 dsRNA treatments in the laboratory. After treatment with the dsRNA in the field, after 5 days the virus Linepithema humile toti-like virus 1 (LhuTLV1) was significantly more abundant. However, immune pathway disruption did not result in a consistent increase in microbial infections, nor did it alter ant abundance in the field. Some viruses even declined in abundance after dsRNA treatment. Our study explored the feasibility of lowering a pest's immunity as a control tool. We demonstrate that it is possible to alter immune gene expression of pest species and pathogen loads, although in our specific system the affected pathogens did not appear to influence pest abundance. We provide suggestions on future directions for dsRNA-mediated immune disruption in pest species, including potential avenues to improve dsRNA delivery as well as the importance of pest and pathogen biology. Double-stranded RNA targeting immune function might be especially useful for pest control in systems in which viruses or other microorganisms are prevalent and have the potential to be pathogenic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Felden
- Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Jana Dobelmann
- Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - James W Baty
- Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Joseph McCormick
- Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - John Haywood
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Philip J Lester
- Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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7
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Pereira A, Soares MC, Santos T, Poças A, Pérez-Losada M, Apprill A, Sikkel PC, Xavier R. Reef Location and Client Diversity Influence the Skin Microbiome of the Caribbean Cleaner Goby Elacatinus evelynae. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2023; 85:372-382. [PMID: 35275230 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-022-01984-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Fish-associated microorganisms are known to be affected by the environment and other external factors, such as microbial transfer between interacting partners. One of the most iconic mutualistic interactions on coral reefs is the cleaning interactions between cleaner fishes and their clients, during which direct physical contact occurs. Here, we characterized the skin bacteria of the Caribbean cleaner sharknose goby, Elacatinus evelynae, in four coral reefs of the US Virgin Islands using sequencing of the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. We specifically tested the relationship between gobies' level of interaction with clients and skin microbiota diversity and composition. Our results showed differences in microbial alpha- and beta-diversity in the skin of gobies from different reef habitats and high inter-individual variation in microbiota diversity and structure. Overall, the results showed that fish-to-fish direct contact and specifically, access to a diverse clientele, influences the bacterial diversity and structure of cleaner gobies' skin. Because of their frequent contact with clients, and therefore, high potential for microbial exchange, cleaner fish may serve as models in future studies aiming to understand the role of social microbial transfer in reef fish communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Pereira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, 4099-002, Portugal.
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal.
| | - Marta C Soares
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Teresa Santos
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Ana Poças
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Marcos Pérez-Losada
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- Computational Biology Institute, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Amy Apprill
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA
| | - Paul C Sikkel
- Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA
- Water Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Potchefstroom Campus, North West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa
| | - Raquel Xavier
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, Vairão, 4485-661, Portugal
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8
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Che-Ajuyo NM, Rao X, Liu B, Deng Z, Dong L, Liang W. Effect of Breeding Season on Haemosporidian Infections in Domestic Chickens. Vet Sci 2022; 9:vetsci9120681. [PMID: 36548842 PMCID: PMC9781487 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci9120681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Revised: 11/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproduction is believed to contribute to the frequently observed seasonal cycles in parasite loads in many organisms, as an investment in reproduction by the host could result in a higher susceptibility to parasites. In this study, we examined the impact of breeding season on haemosporidian infection in free-range chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). We sampled a total of 122 chickens (66 chickens during the breeding season of April 2017 and 56 chickens during the non-breeding season of January 2017) to test for haemosporidian infections. The result showed that 56 out of 66 chickens examined during the breeding season tested positive for parasites (84.8% parasite prevalence), whereas 39 out of 56 chickens tested positive for parasites during the non-breeding season (69.6% parasite prevalence). Moreover, among the 11 Leucocytozoon lineages and 2 Plasmodium lineages identified, the parasite lineages that infected chickens during the breeding season were more diversified than those that affected chickens during the non-breeding season. This study indicated that chickens have a higher incidence of haemosporidian infection and a greater diversity of haemosporidian parasite lineages during the breeding season relative to the non-breeding season.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuela Manka’a Che-Ajuyo
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Xiaodong Rao
- College of Forestry, Wuzhishan National Long Term Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Research Station, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
| | - Boye Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi’an 710032, China
| | - Zhuqing Deng
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Lu Dong
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Correspondence: (L.D.); (W.L.)
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
- Correspondence: (L.D.); (W.L.)
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9
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Lemonnier C, Bize P, Boonstra R, Dobson FS, Criscuolo F, Viblanc VA. Effects of the social environment on vertebrate fitness and health in nature: Moving beyond the stress axis. Horm Behav 2022; 145:105232. [PMID: 35853411 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2022.105232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Revised: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Social interactions are a ubiquitous feature of the lives of vertebrate species. These may be cooperative or competitive, and shape the dynamics of social systems, with profound effects on individual behavior, physiology, fitness, and health. On one hand, a wealth of studies on humans, laboratory animal models, and captive species have focused on understanding the relationships between social interactions and individual health within the context of disease and pathology. On the other, ecological studies are attempting an understanding of how social interactions shape individual phenotypes in the wild, and the consequences this entails in terms of adaptation. Whereas numerous studies in wild vertebrates have focused on the relationships between social environments and the stress axis, much remains to be done in understanding how socially-related activation of the stress axis coordinates other key physiological functions related to health. Here, we review the state of our current knowledge on the effects that social interactions may have on other markers of vertebrate fitness and health. Building upon complementary findings from the biomedical and ecological fields, we identify 6 key physiological functions (cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, cellular senescence, immunity, brain function, and the regulation of biological rhythms) which are intimately related to the stress axis, and likely directly affected by social interactions. Our goal is a holistic understanding of how social environments affect vertebrate fitness and health in the wild. Whereas both social interactions and social environments are recognized as important sources of phenotypic variation, their consequences on vertebrate fitness, and the adaptive nature of social-stress-induced phenotypes, remain unclear. Social flexibility, or the ability of an animal to change its social behavior with resulting changes in social systems in response to fluctuating environments, has emerged as a critical underlying factor that may buffer the beneficial and detrimental effects of social environments on vertebrate fitness and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Lemonnier
- Ecole Normale Supérieur de Lyon, 69342 Lyon, France; Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
| | - Pierre Bize
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK; Swiss Institute of Ornithology, Sempach, Switzerland
| | - Rudy Boonstra
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada
| | - F Stephen Dobson
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | | | - Vincent A Viblanc
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000 Strasbourg, France
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10
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Lynsdale CL, Seltmann MW, Mon NO, Aung HH, Nyein UK, Htut W, Lahdenperä M, Lummaa V. Investigating associations between nematode infection and three measures of sociality in Asian elephants. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022; 76:87. [PMID: 35765658 PMCID: PMC9232411 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03192-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Frequent social interactions, proximity to conspecifics, and group density are main drivers of infections and parasite transmissions. However, recent theoretical and empirical studies suggest that the health benefits of sociality and group living can outweigh the costs of infection and help social individuals fight infections or increase their infection-related tolerance level. Here, we combine the advantage of studying artificially created social work groups with different demographic compositions with free-range feeding and social behaviours in semi-captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), employed in timber logging in Myanmar. We examine the link between gastro-intestinal nematode load (strongyles and Strongyloides spp.), estimated by faecal egg counts, and three different aspects of an elephant’s social world: individual solitary behaviour, work group size, and work group sex ratio. Controlling for sex, age, origin, time since last deworming treatment, year, human sampler bias, and individual identity, we found that infection by nematodes ranged from 0 to 2720 eggs/g between and within 26 male and 45 female elephants over the 4-year study period. However, such variation was not linked to any investigated measures of sociality in either males or females. Our findings highlight the need for finer-scale studies, establishing how sociality is limited by, mitigates, or protects against infection in different ecological contexts, to fully understand the mechanisms underlying these pathways. Significance statement Being social involves not only benefits, such as improved health, but also costs, including increased risk of parasitism and infectious disease. We studied the relationship between and three different sociality measures—solitary behaviour, group size, and the proportion of females to males within a group—and infection by gut nematodes (roundworms), using a unique study system of semi-captive working Asian elephants. Our system allows for observing how infection is linked to sociality measures across different social frameworks. We found that none of our social measures was associated with nematode infection in the studied elephants. Our results therefore suggest that here infection is not a large cost to group living, that it can be alleviated by the benefits of increased sociality, or that there are weak infection–sociality associations present which could not be captured and thus require finer-scale measures than those studied here. Overall, more studies are needed from a diverse range of systems that investigate specific aspects of social infection dynamics.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00265-022-03192-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carly L. Lynsdale
- Natural Resources Institute, Helsinki, Finland
- Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Nay Oo Mon
- Department of Animal Science, University of Veterinary Science, Yezin, Myanmar
| | - Htoo Htoo Aung
- Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - UKyaw Nyein
- Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Win Htut
- Myanma Timber Enterprise, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Mirkka Lahdenperä
- Department of Public Health, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, 20014 Turku, Finland
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, 20014 Turku, Finland
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
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11
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Detrain C, Leclerc JB. Spatial distancing by fungus-exposed Myrmica ants is prompted by sickness rather than contagiousness. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2022; 139:104384. [PMID: 35318040 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2022.104384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The ecological success of ants relies on their high level of sociality and cooperation between genetically related nestmates. However, these group-living insects suffer from elevated risks of disease outbreak in the whole nest. To face this sanitary challenge, social and spatial distancing of pathogen-exposed individuals from susceptible nestmates appear to be simple, although efficient, ways to limit the propagation of contact-transmitted pathogens. Here we question whether spatial distancing in Myrmica rubra ants is an active response of diseased individuals that correlates with their level of infectiousness. We contaminated foragers with spores of Metarhizium brunneum entomopathogenic fungus. We daily tracked the location of these pathogen-exposed individuals and we analyzed their movement patterns until their death on the 5th day post-contamination. Quite unexpectedly, we found that contagious individuals, whose body was covered with infectious spores, did not reduce their mobility nor stayed far away from larvae in order to limit pathogen transmission to healthy nestmates. Spatial distancing occurred later when diseased individuals were no longer contagious because spores had penetrated their body. These sick ants mainly stayed outside the nest, were less mobile and showed a shift from a superdiffusive to subdiffusive walking pattern. Furthermore, these diseased ants did not actively head towards directions that were opposite to the nest entrance. This study found no evidence for early spatial distancing by contaminated M.rubra workers that would fit to the actual risk of colony-wide contagion. Coupled to a lower mobility and area-reduced walking patterns, the late distancing of moribund individuals appears to be a symptom of sickness resulting from fungus-induced physical and physiological dysfunctions. Besides questioning the truly altruistic nature of death in isolation in this system (and potentially others), we discuss about the ecological and physiological constraints that explain the absence of early distancing when some ant species are exposed to pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Detrain
- Unit of Social Ecology CP 231, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 Avenue F Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Jean-Baptiste Leclerc
- Unit of Social Ecology CP 231, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 Avenue F Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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12
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Van Meyel S, Devers S, Meunier J. Earwig mothers consume the feces of their juveniles during family life. INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 29:595-602. [PMID: 34224203 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Many animals consume the feces of their conspecifics. This allo-coprophagy can have benefits, such as access to nutrients and symbionts, but also risks for consumers, mainly due to direct contact with pathogens that develop on feces. In the European earwig Forficula auricularia, mothers and juveniles live in nests lined with their feces. This surprising habit allows juveniles to consume the feces of their siblings during family life and provides them with nutritional benefits when mothers provide low care. However, it was unclear whether earwig mothers also practice allo-coprophagy, and whether this behavior is motivated by their nutritional needs. Here, we set up four types of experimental families in which we manipulated the nutritional needs of mothers and/or juveniles and measured the effects on the production of feces by the juveniles, and the consumption of these feces by the mothers. Our results first show that fed juveniles produced more feces pellet in presence of fed compared to food-deprived mothers. We also found that, overall, about 50% of the mothers consumed juveniles feces. This consumption was both more likely and larger when the feces were produced by fed compared to food-deprived juveniles, while the proportion of feces pellets eaten was larger in food-deprived compared to fed mothers. Overall, our results reveal that allo-coprophagy involves every family member and suggest that it can have both nutritional and non-nutritional benefits for earwig mothers. Allo-coprophagy could thus favor the maintenance of mothers in the nest and, more generally, promote the early evolution of family life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Van Meyel
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, University of Tours, Tours, France
| | - Séverine Devers
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, University of Tours, Tours, France
| | - Joël Meunier
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, University of Tours, Tours, France
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13
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Ordovás‐Montañés M, Preston GM, Drew GC, Rafaluk‐Mohr C, King KC. Reproductive consequences of transient pathogen exposure across host genotypes and generations. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8720. [PMID: 35356553 PMCID: PMC8938310 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
To maximize fitness upon pathogenic infection, host organisms might reallocate energy and resources among life‐history traits, such as reproduction and defense. The fitness costs of infection can result from both immune upregulation and direct pathogen exploitation. The extent to which these costs, separately and together, vary by host genotype and across generations is unknown. We attempted to disentangle these costs by transiently exposing wild isolates and a lab‐domesticated strain of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes to the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, using exposure to heat‐killed pathogens to distinguish costs due to immune upregulation and pathogen exploitation. We found that host nematodes exhibit a short‐term delay in offspring production when exposed to live and heat‐killed pathogen, but their lifetime fecundity (total offspring produced) recovered to control levels. We also found genetic variation between host isolates for both cumulative offspring production and magnitude of fitness costs. We further investigated whether there were maternal pathogen exposure costs (or benefits) to offspring and revealed a positive correlation between the magnitude of the pathogen‐induced delay in the parent's first day of reproduction and the cost to offspring population growth. Our findings highlight the capacity for hosts to recover fecundity after transient exposure to a pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Charlotte Rafaluk‐Mohr
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
- Institute of Biology Freie Universitat Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Kayla C. King
- Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
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14
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Cowgill M, Zink AG, Sparagon W, Yap TA, Sulaeman H, Koo MS, Vredenburg VT. Social Behavior, Community Composition, Pathogen Strain, and Host Symbionts Influence Fungal Disease Dynamics in Salamanders. Front Vet Sci 2021; 8:742288. [PMID: 34938792 PMCID: PMC8687744 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.742288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The emerging fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which can cause a fatal disease called chytridiomycosis, is implicated in the collapse of hundreds of host amphibian species. We describe chytridiomycosis dynamics in two co-occurring terrestrial salamander species, the Santa Lucia Mountains slender salamander, Batrachoseps luciae, and the arboreal salamander, Aneides lugubris. We (1) conduct a retrospective Bd-infection survey of specimens collected over the last century, (2) estimate present-day Bd infections in wild populations, (3) use generalized linear models (GLM) to identify biotic and abiotic correlates of infection risk, (4) investigate susceptibility of hosts exposed to Bd in laboratory trials, and (5) examine the ability of host skin bacteria to inhibit Bd in culture. Our historical survey of 2,866 specimens revealed that for most of the early 20th century (~1920–1969), Bd was not detected in either species. By the 1990s the proportion of infected specimens was 29 and 17% (B. luciae and A. lugubris, respectively), and in the 2010s it was 10 and 17%. This was similar to the number of infected samples from contemporary populations (2014–2015) at 10 and 18%. We found that both hosts experience signs of chytridiomycosis and suffered high Bd-caused mortality (88 and 71% for B. luciae and A. lugubris, respectively). Our GLM revealed that Bd-infection probability was positively correlated with intraspecific group size and proximity to heterospecifics but not to abiotic factors such as precipitation, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, mean temperature, and elevation, or to the size of the hosts. Finally, we found that both host species contain symbiotic skin-bacteria that inhibit growth of Bd in laboratory trials. Our results provide new evidence consistent with other studies showing a relatively recent Bd invasion of amphibian host populations in western North America and suggest that the spread of the pathogen may be enabled both through conspecific and heterospecific host interactions. Our results suggest that wildlife disease studies should assess host-pathogen dynamics that consider the interactions and effects of multiple hosts, as well as the historical context of pathogen invasion, establishment, and epizootic to enzootic transitions to better understand and predict disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mae Cowgill
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Andrew G Zink
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Wesley Sparagon
- Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, Department of Oceanography and Sea Grant College Program, UUniversity of Hawai'i at Mānoa, HI, United States
| | - Tiffany A Yap
- Center for Biological Diversity, Oakland, CA, United States
| | - Hasan Sulaeman
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Michelle S Koo
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Vance T Vredenburg
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States.,Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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15
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Brahma A, Leon RG, Hernandez GL, Wurm Y. Larger, more connected societies of ants have a higher prevalence of viruses. Mol Ecol 2021; 31:859-865. [PMID: 34800339 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 10/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The benefits of cooperative living for foraging, nesting, defence and buffering environmental challenges lead animals with the most highly social lifestyles to dominate many ecosystems. However, living in larger, more highly connected groups should also increase the risks of pathogen exposure and transmission. While over long timescales selective responses could buffer the impacts of potential higher pathogen prevalence, similar processes are unlikely over short timescales. The red fire ant Solenopsis invicta is ideal for measuring the effects of group size on pathogen prevalence because two types of society coexist in this species: smaller single-nest single-queen colonies that are highly aggressive to their neighbours and larger multiple-queen colonies that exchange resources with neighbouring nests. We compare the presence of viruses between these two colony types using metagenomic sequence classification of RNA-sequencing reads. We find that queens from multiple-queen colonies have 8.3-times higher viral load and 1.5-times higher viral diversity than queens from single-queen colonies. This finding characterizes a rarely considered cost of transitions to more highly social living. Furthermore, our results show that highly social invertebrates can harbour many viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anindita Brahma
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Raphael Gray Leon
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.,University College London, London, UK
| | - Gabriel Luis Hernandez
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Yannick Wurm
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.,Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
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16
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Huang S, Farrell M, Stephens PR. Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200350. [PMID: 34538145 PMCID: PMC8450632 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shan Huang
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Maxwell Farrell
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Patrick R. Stephens
- Odum School of Ecology and Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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17
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Schmid-Hempel P. Sociality and parasite transmission. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021; 75:156. [PMID: 34720348 PMCID: PMC8540878 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03092-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Parasites and their social hosts form many different relationships. But what kind of selection regimes are important? A look at the parameters that determine fitness of the two parties suggests that social hosts differ from solitary ones primarily in the structure of transmission pathways. Because transmission is, both, the physical encounter of a new host and infecting it, several different elements determine parasite transmission success. These include spatial distance, genetic distance, or the temporal and ecological niche overlaps. Combing these elements into a ‘generalized transmission distance’ that determines parasite fitness aids in the identification of the critical steps. For example, short-distance transmission to genetically similar hosts within the social group is the most frequent process under sociality. Therefore, spatio-genetical distances are the main driver of parasite fitness. Vice versa, the generalized distance identifies the critical host defences. In this case, host defences should be primarily selected to defend against the within-group spread of an infection, especially among closely related group members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Schmid-Hempel
- Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zürich, ETH-Zentrum CHN, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
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18
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Drew GC, Budge GE, Frost CL, Neumann P, Siozios S, Yañez O, Hurst GDD. Transitions in symbiosis: evidence for environmental acquisition and social transmission within a clade of heritable symbionts. THE ISME JOURNAL 2021; 15:2956-2968. [PMID: 33941888 PMCID: PMC8443716 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-00977-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
A dynamic continuum exists from free-living environmental microbes to strict host-associated symbionts that are vertically inherited. However, knowledge of the forces that drive transitions in symbiotic lifestyle and transmission mode is lacking. Arsenophonus is a diverse clade of bacterial symbionts, comprising reproductive parasites to coevolving obligate mutualists, in which the predominant mode of transmission is vertical. We describe a symbiosis between a member of the genus Arsenophonus and the Western honey bee. The symbiont shares common genomic and predicted metabolic properties with the male-killing symbiont Arsenophonus nasoniae, however we present multiple lines of evidence that the bee Arsenophonus deviates from a heritable model of transmission. Field sampling uncovered spatial and seasonal dynamics in symbiont prevalence, and rapid infection loss events were observed in field colonies and laboratory individuals. Fluorescent in situ hybridisation showed Arsenophonus localised in the gut, and detection was rare in screens of early honey bee life stages. We directly show horizontal transmission of Arsenophonus between bees under varying social conditions. We conclude that honey bees acquire Arsenophonus through a combination of environmental exposure and social contacts. These findings uncover a key link in the Arsenophonus clades trajectory from free-living ancestral life to obligate mutualism, and provide a foundation for studying transitions in symbiotic lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia C Drew
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
| | - Giles E Budge
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Crystal L Frost
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Peter Neumann
- Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Stefanos Siozios
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Orlando Yañez
- Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Gregory D D Hurst
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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19
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Social group size influences pathogen transmission in salamanders. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-03057-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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20
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Locke B, Thaduri S, Stephan JG, Low M, Blacquière T, Dahle B, Le Conte Y, Neumann P, de Miranda JR. Adapted tolerance to virus infections in four geographically distinct Varroa destructor-resistant honeybee populations. Sci Rep 2021; 11:12359. [PMID: 34117296 PMCID: PMC8196020 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91686-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, is unarguably the leading cause of honeybee (Apis mellifera) mortality worldwide through its role as a vector for lethal viruses, in particular, strains of the Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) complexes. Several honeybee populations across Europe have well-documented adaptations of mite-resistant traits but little is known about host adaptations towards the virus infections vectored by the mite. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the possible contribution of adapted virus tolerance and/or resistance to the enhanced survival of four well-documented mite-resistant honeybee populations from Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and France, in relation to unselected mite-susceptible honeybees. Caged adult bees and laboratory reared larvae, from colonies of these four populations, were inoculated with DWV and ABPV in a series of feeding infection experiments, while control groups received virus-free food. Virus infections were monitored using RT-qPCR assays in individuals sampled over a time course. In both adults and larvae the DWV and ABPV infection dynamics were nearly identical in all groups, but all mite-resistant honeybee populations had significantly higher survival rates compared to the mite-susceptible honeybees. These results suggest that adapted virus tolerance is an important component of survival mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Locke
- Department of Ecology, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Srinivas Thaduri
- Department of Ecology, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jörg G Stephan
- Department of Ecology, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Matthew Low
- Department of Ecology, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tjeerd Blacquière
- Bio-Interaction and Plant Health, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Bjørn Dahle
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Sciences, Kløfta, Ås, Norway
| | - Yves Le Conte
- Abeilles et Environnement, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Avignon, France
| | - Peter Neumann
- Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Center, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Joachim R de Miranda
- Department of Ecology, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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21
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Spatial and Social Behavior of Single and Coupled Individuals of Both Sexes during COVID-19 Lockdown Regime in Russia. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18084283. [PMID: 33920747 PMCID: PMC8073311 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18084283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Testing individual motivations for social activity in violation of the mandated lockdown regime is a challenging research topic for evolutionary psychology. To this purpose, we analyzed twenty popular weekly routes and the potential impact of sex and relationship status (single versus coupled) on the reported level of spatial-social activity during the quarantine in Russia between March and June 2020 (N = 492). Our study revealed a significant difference between men’s and women’s mobility: men, in general, tend to exhibit substantially higher spatial activity. The results have shown that individuals living on their own have more social interactions with friends and exhibit more profound spatial mobility via public transport. On the other hand, spatial activity of coupled individuals of both sexes were mostly devoted to solving a list of economic and matrimonial tasks. At the same time, men already cohabiting with a partner leave their homes for dating purposes more frequently than single men and women. We interpret these findings in the sense that both individual and sex-specific differences in observed sociality could be a result of a fine-tuned adaptive populational response to a contemporary virus threat, predominantly rooted in the evolution of behavioral strategies in the reproductive and economic spheres of each sex. Indeed, unlike women, coupled men have been preserving highly risky and intense social behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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22
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Chakarov N, Blanco G. Blood Parasites in Sympatric Vultures: Role of Nesting Habits and Effects on Body Condition. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:2431. [PMID: 33801498 PMCID: PMC7967578 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Avian haemosporidians are a common and widespread group of vector-borne parasites capable of infecting most bird species around the world. They can negatively affect host condition and fitness. Vultures are assumed to have a very low prevalence of these blood parasites, likely due to their strong immunity; however, factors contributing to variation in host exposure and susceptibility to haemosporidians are complex, and supporting evidence is still very limited. We analyzed blood samples collected from nestlings of three vulture species in Spain over 18 years, and used updated nested-PCR protocols capable of detecting all haesmosporidian cytochrome b lineages typical for diurnal birds of prey (Accipitriformes). Similarly to previous studies, we found low haemosporidian prevalence in cliff-breeding species, with Leucocytozoon as the only represented blood parasite genus: 3.1% in griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) (n = 128) and 5.3% in Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) (n = 114). In contrast, the tree-breeding cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) had a substantially higher prevalence: 10.3% (n = 146). By far the most common lineage in Spanish scavenging raptors was the Leucocytozoon lineage CIAE02. No effects of nestling age and sex, or temporal trends in prevalence were found, but an effect of nest habitat (tree-nest vs. cliff-nest) was found in the griffon vulture. These patterns may be explained by a preference of vectors to forage in and around trees rather than on cliffs and wide open spaces. We found an apparent detrimental effect of haemosporidians on body mass of nestling cinereous vultures. Further research is needed to evaluate the pathogenicity of each haemosporidian lineage and their interaction with the immune system of nestlings, especially if compromised due to pollution with pharmaceuticals and infection by bacterial and mycotic pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nayden Chakarov
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Guillermo Blanco
- Department of Evolutionary, Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC. José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;
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23
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Laciny A. Among the shapeshifters: parasite-induced morphologies in ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and their relevance within the EcoEvoDevo framework. EvoDevo 2021; 12:2. [PMID: 33653386 PMCID: PMC7923345 DOI: 10.1186/s13227-021-00173-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
As social insects, ants represent extremely interaction-rich biological systems shaped by tightly integrated social structures and constant mutual exchange with a multitude of internal and external environmental factors. Due to this high level of ecological interconnection, ant colonies can harbour a diverse array of parasites and pathogens, many of which are known to interfere with the delicate processes of ontogeny and caste differentiation and induce phenotypic changes in their hosts. Despite their often striking nature, parasite-induced changes to host development and morphology have hitherto been largely overlooked in the context of ecological evolutionary developmental biology (EcoEvoDevo). Parasitogenic morphologies in ants can, however, serve as “natural experiments” that may shed light on mechanisms and pathways relevant to host development, plasticity or robustness under environmental perturbations, colony-level effects and caste evolution. By assessing case studies of parasites causing morphological changes in their ant hosts, from the eighteenth century to current research, this review article presents a first overview of relevant host and parasite taxa. Hypotheses about the underlying developmental and evolutionary mechanisms, and open questions for further research are discussed. This will contribute towards highlighting the importance of parasites of social insects for both biological theory and empirical research and facilitate future interdisciplinary work at the interface of myrmecology, parasitology, and the EcoEvoDevo framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Laciny
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Martinstraße 12, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria.
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24
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Hawley DM, Gibson AK, Townsend AK, Craft ME, Stephenson JF. Bidirectional interactions between host social behaviour and parasites arise through ecological and evolutionary processes. Parasitology 2021; 148:274-288. [PMID: 33092680 PMCID: PMC11010184 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182020002048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
An animal's social behaviour both influences and changes in response to its parasites. Here we consider these bidirectional links between host social behaviours and parasite infection, both those that occur from ecological vs evolutionary processes. First, we review how social behaviours of individuals and groups influence ecological patterns of parasite transmission. We then discuss how parasite infection, in turn, can alter host social interactions by changing the behaviour of both infected and uninfected individuals. Together, these ecological feedbacks between social behaviour and parasite infection can result in important epidemiological consequences. Next, we consider the ways in which host social behaviours evolve in response to parasites, highlighting constraints that arise from the need for hosts to maintain benefits of sociality while minimizing fitness costs of parasites. Finally, we consider how host social behaviours shape the population genetic structure of parasites and the evolution of key parasite traits, such as virulence. Overall, these bidirectional relationships between host social behaviours and parasites are an important yet often underappreciated component of population-level disease dynamics and host-parasite coevolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana M. Hawley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA24061, USA
| | - Amanda K. Gibson
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA22903, USA
| | | | - Meggan E. Craft
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN55108, USA
| | - Jessica F. Stephenson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA15260, USA
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Tartally A, Somogyi AÁ, Révész T, Nash DR. Host Ant Change of a Socially Parasitic Butterfly ( Phengaris alcon) through Host Nest Take-Over. INSECTS 2020; 11:insects11090556. [PMID: 32825399 PMCID: PMC7565011 DOI: 10.3390/insects11090556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary The endangered Alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon) starts its larval stage by feeding on the seeds of gentian plants, after which it completes development in the nests of suitable Myrmica ant species. Any particular population often uses more than one host ant species, and some host switching is likely. To test switching in the lab we introduced relatively strong colonies of alien Myrmica species to the arenas of weaker colonies, and to orphaned caterpillars. Most of the caterpillars were successfully readopted by alien ants, and survived well. Our results suggest higher ecological plasticity in host ant usage of this butterfly than generally thought. The Alcon blue is an iconic species, e.g., its special life cycle has featured in several high profile television and streaming media wildlife series, and the more we know about its unusual life the more we can do for its protected sites. Abstract The socially parasitic Alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon) starts its larval stage by feeding on the seeds of gentians, after which it completes development in the nests of suitable Myrmica ant species. The host plant and host ant species can differ at the population level within a region, and local adaptation is common, but some host switches are observed. It has been suggested that one mechanism of change is through the re-adoption of caterpillars by different ant species, either through occupation of abandoned nests or take-over of established nests by competitively superior colonies. To test this question in the lab we introduced relatively strong colonies (50 workers) of alien Myrmica species to the arenas of weaker colonies (two caterpillars with six workers), and to orphaned caterpillars (two caterpillars without ants). We used caterpillars from a xerophylic population of P. alcon, and both local hosts, M. sabuleti and M. scabrinodis, testing the possibility of host switch between these two host ant species during larval development. Most of the caterpillars were successfully readopted by alien ants, and survived well. Our results suggest higher ecological plasticity in host ant usage of this butterfly than generally thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- András Tartally
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary; (A.Á.S.); (T.R.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +36-5251-2900 (ext. 62349)
| | - Anna Ágnes Somogyi
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary; (A.Á.S.); (T.R.)
- Juhász-Nagy Pál Doktoral School, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Tamás Révész
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary; (A.Á.S.); (T.R.)
| | - David R. Nash
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
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Townsend AK, Hawley DM, Stephenson JF, Williams KEG. Emerging infectious disease and the challenges of social distancing in human and non-human animals. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201039. [PMID: 32781952 PMCID: PMC7575514 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The 'social distancing' that occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in humans provides a powerful illustration of the intimate relationship between infectious disease and social behaviour in animals. Indeed, directly transmitted pathogens have long been considered a major cost of group living in humans and other social animals, as well as a driver of the evolution of group size and social behaviour. As the risk and frequency of emerging infectious diseases rise, the ability of social taxa to respond appropriately to changing infectious disease pressures could mean the difference between persistence and extinction. Here, we examine changes in the social behaviour of humans and wildlife in response to infectious diseases and compare these responses to theoretical expectations. We consider constraints on altering social behaviour in the face of emerging diseases, including the lack of behavioural plasticity, environmental limitations and conflicting pressures from the many benefits of group living. We also explore the ways that social animals can minimize the costs of disease-induced changes to sociality and the unique advantages that humans may have in maintaining the benefits of sociality despite social distancing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea K. Townsend
- Department of Biology, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
| | - Dana M. Hawley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, 4036 Derring Hall (MC 0406), 926 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Jessica F. Stephenson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 403B Clapp Hall, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - Keelah E. G. Williams
- Department of Psychology, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323, USA
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28
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Microbial transmission in animal social networks and the social microbiome. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1020-1035. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1220-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Webber QMR, Vander Wal E. Heterogeneity in social network connections is density-dependent: implications for disease dynamics in a gregarious ungulate. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02860-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Goes AC, Barcoto MO, Kooij PW, Bueno OC, Rodrigues A. How Do Leaf-Cutting Ants Recognize Antagonistic Microbes in Their Fungal Crops? Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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31
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Esparza-Mora MA, Davis HE, Meconcelli S, Plarre R, McMahon DP. Inhibition of a Secreted Immune Molecule Interferes With Termite Social Immunity. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Stephan JG, de Miranda JR, Forsgren E. American foulbrood in a honeybee colony: spore-symptom relationship and feedbacks. BMC Ecol 2020; 20:15. [PMID: 32143610 PMCID: PMC7060557 DOI: 10.1186/s12898-020-00283-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The most severe bacterial disease of honeybees is American foulbrood (AFB). The epidemiology of AFB is driven by the extreme spore resilience, the difficulty of bees to remove these spores, and the considerable incidence of undetected spore-producing colonies. The honeybee collective defence mechanisms and their feedback on colony development, which involves a division of labour at multiple levels of colony organization, are difficult to model. To better predict disease outbreaks we need to understand the feedback between colony development and disease progression within the colony. We therefore developed Bayesian models with data from forty AFB-diseased colonies monitored over an entire foraging season to (i) investigate the relationship between spore production and symptoms, (ii) disentangle the feedback loops between AFB epidemiology and natural colony development, and (iii) discuss whether larger insect societies promote or limit within-colony disease transmission. RESULTS Rather than identifying a fixed spore count threshold for clinical symptoms, we estimated the probabilities around the relationship between spore counts and symptoms, taking into account modulators such as brood amount/number of bees and time post infection. We identified a decrease over time in the bees-to-brood ratio related to disease development, which should ultimately induce colony collapse. Lastly, two contrasting theories predict that larger colonies could promote either higher (classical epidemiological SIR-model) or lower (increasing spatial nest segregation and more effective pathogen removal) disease prevalence. CONCLUSIONS AFB followed the predictions of the SIR-model, partly because disease prevalence and brood removal are decoupled, with worker bees acting more as disease vectors, infecting new brood, than as agents of social immunity, by removing infected brood. We therefore established a direct link between disease prevalence and social group size for a eusocial insect. We furthermore provide a probabilistic description of the relationship between AFB spore counts and symptoms, and how disease development and colony strength over a season modulate this relationship. These results help to better understand disease development within honeybee colonies, provide important estimates for further epidemiological modelling, and gained important insights into the optimal sampling strategy for practical beekeeping and honeybee research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jörg G Stephan
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
- Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Joachim R de Miranda
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Eva Forsgren
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden
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Bratburd JR, Arango RA, Horn HA. Defensive Symbioses in Social Insects Can Inform Human Health and Agriculture. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:76. [PMID: 32117113 PMCID: PMC7020198 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Social animals are among the most successful organisms on the planet and derive many benefits from living in groups, including facilitating the evolution of agriculture. However, living in groups increases the risk of disease transmission in social animals themselves and the cultivated crops upon which they obligately depend. Social insects offer an interesting model to compare to human societies, in terms of how insects manage disease within their societies and with their agricultural symbionts. As living in large groups can help the spread of beneficial microbes as well as pathogens, we examine the role of defensive microbial symbionts in protecting the host from pathogens. We further explore how beneficial microbes may influence other pathogen defenses including behavioral and immune responses, and how we can use insect systems as models to inform on issues relating to human health and agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer R. Bratburd
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Rachel A. Arango
- Forest Products Laboratory, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Heidi A. Horn
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
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Nalepa CA. Origin of Mutualism Between Termites and Flagellated Gut Protists: Transition From Horizontal to Vertical Transmission. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
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Pereira H, Detrain C. Pathogen avoidance and prey discrimination in ants. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:191705. [PMID: 32257330 PMCID: PMC7062100 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Insect societies have developed sanitary strategies, one of which is the avoidance of infectious food resources as a primary line of defence. Using binary choices, we investigated whether Myrmica rubra ants can identify prey that has been artificially infected with the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum. We compared the ants' foraging behaviour towards infected prey at three different stages of fungus development: (i) prey covered with fungal conidia, (ii) prey freshly killed by the fungus and (iii) sporulating prey. Most foragers retrieved a corpse covered with a high number of spores but they consistently avoided a sporulating prey and collected less prey that had recently died from fungal infection. Furthermore, ant responses were highly variable, with some individuals retrieving the first prey they encountered while others inspected both available prey before making a decision. Workers were not repelled by the simple presence of fungal conidia but nevertheless, they avoided retrieving cadavers at later stages of fungal infection. We discuss how these different avoidance responses could be related to: differences in the ants' perceptive abilities; physico-chemical cues characterizing fungus-infected prey or in the existence of physiological or behavioural defences that limit sanitary risks associated with potentially contaminated resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Pereira
- Unit of Social Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 231, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Ruiz-González MX, Leroy C, Dejean A, Gryta H, Jargeat P, Armijos Carrión AD, Orivel J. Do Host Plant and Associated Ant Species Affect Microbial Communities in Myrmecophytes? INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10110391. [PMID: 31698729 PMCID: PMC6920819 DOI: 10.3390/insects10110391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Ant-associated microorganisms can play crucial and often overlooked roles, and given the diversity of interactions that ants have developed, the study of the associated microbiomes is of interest. We focused here on specialist plant-ant species of the genus Allomerus that grow a fungus to build galleries on their host-plant stems. Allomerus-inhabited domatia, thus, might be a rich arena for microbes associated with the ants, the plant, and the fungus. We investigated the microbial communities present in domatia colonised by four arboreal ants: Allomerus decemarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus, A. octoarticulatus var. demerarae, and the non-fungus growing plant-ant Azteca sp. cf. depilis, inhabiting Hirtella physophora or Cordia nodosa in French Guiana. We hypothesized that the microbial community will differ among these species. We isolated microorganisms from five colonies of each species, sequenced the 16S rRNA or Internal TranscribedSpacer (ITS) regions, and described both the alpha and beta diversities. We identified 69 microbial taxa, which belong to five bacterial and two fungal phyla. The most diverse phyla were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The microbial community of Azteca cf. depilis and Allomerus spp. differed in composition and richness. Geographical distance affected microbial communities and richness but plant species did not. Actinobacteria were only associated with Allomerus spp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario X. Ruiz-González
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, San Cayetano Alto s/n, Loja 1101608, Ecuador
- Correspondence: (M.X.R.-G.); (J.O.); Tel.: +593-7-3701444 (M.X.R.-G.); +594-594-32-92-96 (J.O.)
| | - Céline Leroy
- AMAP, IRD, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, Université de Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France;
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, Agroparistech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, 97379 Kourou, France
| | - Alain Dejean
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, Agroparistech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, 97379 Kourou, France
- Ecolab, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France;
| | - Hervé Gryta
- Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), CNRS, IRD, Université de Toulouse, 31062 Toulouse, France; (H.G.); (P.J.)
| | - Patricia Jargeat
- Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), CNRS, IRD, Université de Toulouse, 31062 Toulouse, France; (H.G.); (P.J.)
| | - Angelo D. Armijos Carrión
- Biodiversity Genomics Team, Plant Ecophysiology & Evolution Group, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Daxuedonglu 100, Nanning 530005, Guangxi, China;
| | - Jérôme Orivel
- CNRS, UMR EcoFoG, Agroparistech, CIRAD, INRA, Université de Guyane, Université des Antilles, Campus Agronomique, 97379 Kourou, France
- Correspondence: (M.X.R.-G.); (J.O.); Tel.: +593-7-3701444 (M.X.R.-G.); +594-594-32-92-96 (J.O.)
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Alma AM, Farji-Brener AG, Elizalde L. Phorid parasitoid attack triggers specific defensive behaviours and collaborative responses in leaf-cutting ants. Behav Processes 2019; 165:36-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Revised: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Malagocka J, Eilenberg J, Jensen AB. Social immunity behaviour among ants infected by specialist and generalist fungi. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 33:99-104. [PMID: 31358203 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Social insects are distinguished by their lifestyle of living in groups with division of labour, cooperative brood care, and reproduction limited to a few colony members. Social insects often build large colonies with remarkable densities of highly related individuals and this can lead to an increased pathogen pressure. Our review focuses on interactions of ants with two important taxonomic groups of fungi infecting ants: Hypocreales (Ascomycota) and Entomophthorales (Entomophthoromycotina), and their different infection strategies, including host manipulation for optimal spore dispersal in the specialised ant pathogens. In social insects such as ants, resistance to pathogens is present at the colony level, with social immunity in addition to the individual resistance. We describe how ants use both organizational and behavioural defence strategies to combat fungal pathogens, with emphasis on highly specialised fungi from the genera Ophiocordyceps and Pandora.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Malagocka
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
| | - Jørgen Eilenberg
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Annette Bruun Jensen
- Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
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Garcia-Longoria L, Marzal A, de Lope F, Garamszegi L. Host-parasite interaction explains variation in the prevalence of avian haemosporidians at the community level. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0205624. [PMID: 30840636 PMCID: PMC6402683 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasites are a selective force that shape host community structure and dynamics, but host communities can also influence parasitism. Understanding the dual nature from host-parasite interactions can be facilitated by quantifying the variation in parasite prevalence among host species and then comparing that variation to other ecological factors that are known to also shape host communities. Avian haemosporidian parasites (e.g. Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) are abundant and widespread representing an excellent model for the study of host-parasite interactions. Several geographic and environmental factors have been suggested to determine prevalence of avian haemosporidians in bird communities. However, it remains unknown whether host and parasite traits, represented by phylogenetic distances among species and degree of specialization in host-parasite relationships, can influence infection status. The aims of this study were to analyze factors affecting infection status in a bird community and to test whether the degree of parasite specialization on their hosts is determined by host traits. Our statistical analyses suggest that infection status is mainly determined by the interaction between host species and parasite lineages where tolerance and/or susceptibility to parasites plays an essential role. Additionally, we found that although some of the parasite lineages infected a low number of bird individuals, the species they infected were distantly related and therefore the parasites themselves should not be considered typical host specialists. Infection status was higher for generalist than for specialist parasites in some, but not all, host species. These results suggest that detected prevalence in a species mainly results from the interaction between host immune defences and parasite exploitation strategies wherein the result of an association between particular parasite lineages and particular host species is idiosyncratic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luz Garcia-Longoria
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz (Spain)
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| | - Alfonso Marzal
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz (Spain)
| | - Florentino de Lope
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz (Spain)
| | - Laszlo Garamszegi
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Seville, Spain
- MTA-ELTE, Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
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Nouvian M, Mandal S, Jamme C, Claudianos C, d'Ettorre P, Reinhard J, Barron AB, Giurfa M. Cooperative defence operates by social modulation of biogenic amine levels in the honey bee brain. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2653. [PMID: 29367399 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The defence of a society often requires that some specialized members coordinate to repel a threat at personal risk. This is especially true for honey bee guards, which defend the hive and may sacrifice their lives upon stinging. Central to this cooperative defensive response is the sting alarm pheromone, which has isoamyl acetate (IAA) as its main component. Although this defensive behaviour has been well described, the neural mechanisms triggered by IAA to coordinate stinging have long remained unknown. Here we show that IAA upregulates brain levels of serotonin and dopamine, thereby increasing the likelihood of an individual bee to attack and sting. Pharmacological enhancement of the levels of both amines induces higher defensive responsiveness, while decreasing them via antagonists decreases stinging. Our results thus uncover the neural mechanism by which an alarm pheromone recruits individuals to attack and repel a threat, and suggest that the alarm pheromone of honey bees acts on their response threshold rather than as a direct trigger.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Nouvian
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France .,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Souvik Mandal
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Charlène Jamme
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Charles Claudianos
- School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3600, Australia
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology, University of Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 93430 Villetaneuse, France
| | - Judith Reinhard
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Andrew B Barron
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Martin Giurfa
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université́ de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
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Nilsson-Møller S, Poulsen M, Innocent TM. A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants. J Vis Exp 2018. [PMID: 30371666 PMCID: PMC6235524 DOI: 10.3791/58420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The complex lifestyle, evolutionary history of advanced cooperation, and disease defenses of leaf-cutting ants are well studied. Although numerous studies have described the behaviors connected with disease defense, and the associated use of chemicals and antimicrobials, no common visual reference has been made. The main aim of this study was to record short clips of behaviors involved in disease defense, both prophylactically and directly targeted towards an antagonist of the colony following infection. To do so we used an infection experiment, with sub-colonies of the leaf-cutting ant species Acromyrmex echinatior, and the most significant known pathogenic threat to the ants' fungal crop (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus), a specialized pathogenic fungus in the genus Escovopsis. We filmed and compared infected and uninfected colonies, at both early and more advanced stages of infection. We quantified key defensive behaviors across treatments and show that the behavioral response to pathogen attack likely varies between different castes of worker ants, and between early and late detection of a threat. Based on these recordings we have made a library of behavioral clips, accompanied by definitions of the main individual defensive behaviors. We anticipate that such a guide can provide a common frame of reference for other researchers working in this field, to recognize and study these behaviors, and also provide greater scope for comparing different studies to ultimately help better understand the role these behaviors play in disease defense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Nilsson-Møller
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
| | - Michael Poulsen
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen;
| | - Tabitha M Innocent
- Centre for Social Evolution, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
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Van Meyel S, Körner M, Meunier J. Social immunity: why we should study its nature, evolution and functions across all social systems. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2018; 28:1-7. [PMID: 30551759 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2018] [Revised: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Mounting defences against pathogens is a necessity for all animals. Although these defences have long been known to rely on individual processes such as the immune system, recent studies have emphasized the importance of social defences for group-living hosts. These defences, called social immunity, have been mostly studied in eusocial insects such as bees, termites and ants, and include, for instance, mutual cleaning and waste management. Over the last few years, however, a growing number of works called for a broader exploration of social immunity in non-eusocial species. In this review, we summarize the rationales of this call and examine why it may provide major insights into our current understanding of the role of pathogens in social evolution. We start by presenting the original conceptual framework of social immunity developed in eusocial insects and shed light on its importance in highly derived social systems. We then clarify three major misconceptions possibly fostered by this original framework and demonstrate why they made necessary the shift towards a broader definition of social immunity. Because a broader definition still needs boundaries, we finally present three criteria to discriminate what is a form of social immunity, from what is not. Overall, we argue that studying social immunity across social systems does not only provide novel insights into how pathogens affect the evolution of eusociality, but also of the emergence and maintenance of social life from a solitary state. Moreover, this broader approach offers new scopes to disentangle the common and specific anti-pathogen defences developed by eusocial and non-eusocial hosts, and to better understand the dependent and independent evolutionary drivers of social and individual immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Van Meyel
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, University of Tours, Tours, France
| | - Maximilian Körner
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolutionary Biology, Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Joël Meunier
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS, University of Tours, Tours, France.
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Cole EL, Ilieş I, Rosengaus RB. Competing Physiological Demands During Incipient Colony Foundation in a Social Insect: Consequences of Pathogenic Stress. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Poissonnier LA, Lihoreau M, Gomez-Moracho T, Dussutour A, Buhl C. A theoretical exploration of dietary collective medication in social insects. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2018; 106:78-87. [PMID: 28826630 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Animals often alter their food choices following a pathogen infection in order to increase immune function and combat the infection. Whether social animals that collect food for their brood or nestmates adjust their nutrient intake to the infection states of their social partners is virtually unexplored. Here we develop an individual-based model of nutritional geometry to examine the impact of collective nutrient balancing on pathogen spread in a social insect colony. The model simulates a hypothetical social insect colony infected by a horizontally transmitted parasite. Simulation experiments suggest that collective nutrition, by which foragers adjust their nutrient intake to simultaneously address their own nutritional needs as well as those of their infected nestmates, is an efficient social immunity mechanism to limit contamination when immune responses are short. Impaired foraging in infected workers can favour colony resilience when pathogen transmission rate is low (by reducing contacts with the few infected foragers) or trigger colony collapse when transmission rate is fast (by depleting the entire pool of foragers). Our theoretical examination of dietary collective medication in social insects suggests a new possible mechanism by which colonies can defend themselves against pathogens and provides a conceptual framework for experimental investigations of the nutritional immunology of social animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laure-Anne Poissonnier
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite campus, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, CNRS, UPS, France.
| | - Tamara Gomez-Moracho
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, CNRS, UPS, France
| | - Audrey Dussutour
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), University Paul Sabatier, CNRS, UPS, France
| | - Camille Buhl
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite campus, The University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
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Balasubramaniam K, Beisner B, Guan J, Vandeleest J, Fushing H, Atwill E, McCowan B. Social network community structure and the contact-mediated sharing of commensal E. coli among captive rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta). PeerJ 2018; 6:e4271. [PMID: 29372120 PMCID: PMC5775753 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
In group-living animals, heterogeneity in individuals' social connections may mediate the sharing of microbial infectious agents. In this regard, the genetic relatedness of individuals' commensal gut bacterium Escherichia coli may be ideal to assess the potential for pathogen transmission through animal social networks. Here we use microbial phylogenetics and population genetics approaches, as well as host social network reconstruction, to assess evidence for the contact-mediated sharing of E. coli among three groups of captively housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), at multiple organizational scales. For each group, behavioral data on grooming, huddling, and aggressive interactions collected for a six-week period were used to reconstruct social network communities via the Data Cloud Geometry (DCG) clustering algorithm. Further, an E. coli isolate was biochemically confirmed and genotypically fingerprinted from fecal swabs collected from each macaque. Population genetics approaches revealed that Group Membership, in comparison to intrinsic attributes like age, sex, and/or matriline membership of individuals, accounted for the highest proportion of variance in E. coli genotypic similarity. Social network approaches revealed that such sharing was evident at the community-level rather than the dyadic level. Specifically, although we found no links between dyadic E. coli similarity and social contact frequencies, similarity was significantly greater among macaques within the same social network communities compared to those across different communities. Moreover, tests for one of our study-groups confirmed that E. coli isolated from macaque rectal swabs were more genotypically similar to each other than they were to isolates from environmentally deposited feces. In summary, our results suggest that among frequently interacting, spatially constrained macaques with complex social relationships, microbial sharing via fecal-oral, social contact-mediated routes may depend on both individuals' direct connections and on secondary network pathways that define community structure. They lend support to the hypothesis that social network communities may act as bottlenecks to contain the spread of infectious agents, thereby encouraging disease control strategies to focus on multiple organizational scales. Future directions includeincreasing microbial sampling effort per individual to better-detect dyadic transmission events, and assessments of the co-evolutionary links between sociality, infectious agent risk, and host immune function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krishna Balasubramaniam
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Brianne Beisner
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
- Brain, Mind & Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Jiahui Guan
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Jessica Vandeleest
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
- Brain, Mind & Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Hsieh Fushing
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Edward Atwill
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
| | - Brenda McCowan
- Department of Population Health & Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
- Brain, Mind & Behavior, California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA, United States of America
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Pull CD, Ugelvig LV, Wiesenhofer F, Grasse AV, Tragust S, Schmitt T, Brown MJF, Cremer S. Destructive disinfection of infected brood prevents systemic disease spread in ant colonies. eLife 2018; 7:e32073. [PMID: 29310753 PMCID: PMC5760203 DOI: 10.7554/elife.32073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2017] [Accepted: 11/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In social groups, infections have the potential to spread rapidly and cause disease outbreaks. Here, we show that in a social insect, the ant Lasius neglectus, the negative consequences of fungal infections (Metarhizium brunneum) can be mitigated by employing an efficient multicomponent behaviour, termed destructive disinfection, which prevents further spread of the disease through the colony. Ants specifically target infected pupae during the pathogen's non-contagious incubation period, utilising chemical 'sickness cues' emitted by pupae. They then remove the pupal cocoon, perforate its cuticle and administer antimicrobial poison, which enters the body and prevents pathogen replication from the inside out. Like the immune system of a metazoan body that specifically targets and eliminates infected cells, ants destroy infected brood to stop the pathogen completing its lifecycle, thus protecting the rest of the colony. Hence, in an analogous fashion, the same principles of disease defence apply at different levels of biological organisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Pull
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
| | - Line V Ugelvig
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
| | - Florian Wiesenhofer
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
| | - Anna V Grasse
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
| | - Simon Tragust
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
- Evolution, Genetics and BehaviourUniversity of RegensburgRegensburgGermany
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical BiologyUniversity of WürzburgWürzburgGermany
| | - Mark JF Brown
- School of Biological SciencesRoyal Holloway University of LondonEghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Sylvia Cremer
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)KlosterneuburgAustria
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Cremer S, Pull CD, Fürst MA. Social Immunity: Emergence and Evolution of Colony-Level Disease Protection. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2018; 63:105-123. [PMID: 28945976 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Social insect colonies have evolved many collectively performed adaptations that reduce the impact of infectious disease and that are expected to maximize their fitness. This colony-level protection is termed social immunity, and it enhances the health and survival of the colony. In this review, we address how social immunity emerges from its mechanistic components to produce colony-level disease avoidance, resistance, and tolerance. To understand the evolutionary causes and consequences of social immunity, we highlight the need for studies that evaluate the effects of social immunity on colony fitness. We discuss the roles that host life history and ecology have on predicted eco-evolutionary dynamics, which differ among the social insect lineages. Throughout the review, we highlight current gaps in our knowledge and promising avenues for future research, which we hope will bring us closer to an integrated understanding of socio-eco-evo-immunology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvia Cremer
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria; ,
| | - Christopher D Pull
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria; ,
- Current affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom;
| | - Matthias A Fürst
- IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria; ,
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