Konrad, Matthias and Grasse, Anna V. and Tragust, Simon and Cremer, Sylvia (2015) Anti-pathogen protection versus survival costs mediated by an ectosymbiont in an ant host. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 282 (1799): 20141976. -. ISSN 0962-8452, 1471-2954
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
The fitness effects of symbionts on their hosts can be context-dependent, with usually benign symbionts causing detrimental effects when their hosts are stressed, or typically parasitic symbionts providing protection towards their hosts (e.g. against pathogen infection). Here, we studied the novel association between the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus and its fungal ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum for potential costs and benefits. We tested ants with different Laboulbenia levels for their survival and immunity under resource limitation and exposure to the obligate killing entomopathogen Metarhizium brunneum. While survival of L. neglectus workers under starvation was significantly decreased with increasing Laboulbenia levels, host survival under Metarhizium exposure increased with higher levels of the ectosymbiont, suggesting a symbiont-mediated anti-pathogen protection, which seems to be driven mechanistically by both improved sanitary behaviours and an upregulated immune system. Ants with high Laboulbenia levels showed significantly longer self-grooming and elevated expression of immune genes relevant for wound repair and antifungal responses (beta-1,3-glucan binding protein, Prophenoloxidase), compared with ants carrying low Laboulbenia levels. This suggests that the ectosymbiont Laboulbenia formicarum weakens its ant host by either direct resource exploitation or the costs of an upregulated behavioural and immunological response, which, however, provides a prophylactic protection upon later exposure to pathogens.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | LABOULBENIA-FORMICARUM ASCOMYCOTA; FUNGUS METARHIZIUM-ANISOPLIAE; LEAF-CUTTING ANTS; IMMUNE-RESPONSES; LASIUS-NEGLECTUS; GENE-EXPRESSION; SOCIAL IMMUNITY; RAPID SPREAD; INFECTION; TRANSMISSION; symbiosis; host-parasite interactions; grooming behaviour; immune gene expression; Laboulbenia formicarum; Metarhizium brunneum |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jul 2019 11:29 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jul 2019 11:29 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/6086 |
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