Disease resistance: a benefit of sociality in the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollis (Isoptera: Termopsidae)

Rosengaus, Rebeca B.; Maxmen, Amy; Coates, Laran E.; Traniello, James F. A.

doi:10.1007/s002650050523

Cited by 241 publications

(315 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…There was no difference in the variation in ant survival between the two levels of diversity, which is surprising given the results of the first experiment. The resistance to disease of social insects, including leaf-cutting ants, can be improved by the presence of nestmates as a result of allogrooming (Rosengaus et al 1998;Hughes et al 2002) and the enhancement of immunocompetence (Traniello et al 2002). Acromyrmex ants can actively apply the antibiotic secretions from their metapleural glands to their fungus garden (Fernández-Marin et al 2003), and it seems likely that these secretions are also transferred between nestmates by contact and grooming, as occurs with cuticular hydrocarbons (Soroker et al 1995;Lenoir et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Leaf-Cutting Ant Societies

Hughes

Boomsma

2004

Evol

112

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Abstract.•Multiple mating by females (polyandry) remains hard to explain because, while it has substantial costs, clear benefits have remained elusive. The problem is acute in the social insects because polyandry is probably particularly costly for females and most material benefits of the behavior are unlikely to apply. It has been suggested that a fitness benefit may arise from the more genetically diverse worker force that a polyandrous queen will produce. One leading hypothesis is that the increased genetic diversity of workers will improve a colony's resistance to disease. We investigated this hypothesis using a polyandrous leaf-cutting ant and a virulent fungal parasite as our model system. At high doses of the parasite most patrilines within colonies were similarly susceptible, but a few showed greater resistance. At a low dose of the parasite there was more variation between patrilines in their resistance to the parasite. Such genetic variation is a key prerequisite for polyandry to result in increased disease resistance of colonies. The relatedness of two hosts did not appear to affect the transmission of the parasite between them, but this was most likely because the parasite tested was a virulent generalist that is adapted to transmit between distantly related hosts. The resistance to the parasite was compared between small groups of ants of either high or low genetic diversity. No difference was found at high doses of the parasite, but a significant improvement in resistance in high genetic diversity groups was found at a low dose of the parasite. That there is genetic variation for disease resistance means that there is the potential for polyandry to produce more disease-resistant colonies. That this genetic variation can improve the resistance of groups even under the limited conditions tested suggests that polyandry may indeed produce colonies with improved resistance to disease.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Leaf-Cutting Ant Societies

Hughes

Boomsma

2004

Evol

112

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“…On the other hand, sociality provides protection from parasites at the colony level as well as collective behavioural defence achieved by all the group members cooperating together, avoiding or eliminating parasitic infections Ugelvig and Cremer, 2007;Wilson-Rich et al, 2009) and reducing the parasite load (Rosengaus et al, 1998;Hughes et al, 2002;Traniello et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for antiseptic behaviour towards sick adult bees in honey bee colonies

Baracchi

Fadda

Turillazzi

2012

Journal of Insect Physiology

106

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a b s t r a c tSocial life is generally associated with an increased risk of disease transmission, but at the same time it allows behavioural defence at both the individual and collective level. Bees infected with deformed-wing virus were introduced into observation hives; through behavioural observations and chemical analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons from healthy and infected bees, we offer the first evidence that honeybee colonies can detect and remove infected adult bees, probably by recognising the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of sick individuals. We also found that health-compromised colonies were less efficient at defending themselves against infected bees, thus facing an ever increasing risk of epidemics. This work reveals a new antiseptic behaviour that can only be interpreted as an adaptation at colony level and one which should be considered an element of the social immunity system of the beehive, re-enforcing the view of a colony as an integrated organism.

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“…Kermarrec et al, 1986;Rosengaus et al, 1998Rosengaus et al, , 2000Rosengaus et al, , 2004Schmid-Hempel, 1998;Christie et al, 2002;Hart and Ratnieks, 2001;2002;Hughes et al, 2002;Poulsen et al, 2002a,b;Turillazzi et al, 2004;Boomsma et al, in press). The effectiveness of these mechanisms is such that rather than the group-living lifestyle being associated with increased susceptibility to disease, as is expected, it may instead result in decreased susceptibility (Rosengaus et al, 1998;Hughes et al, 2002;Shimizu and Yamaji, 2003). In addition to these specialised defence mechanisms, social insects also have the individual immune systems that are found in most insects and a number of antibacterial peptides have been identified from them (Casteels et al, 1990;Casteelsjosson et al, 1993;Mackintosh et al, 1998;Taguchi et al, 1998;Lamberty et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, social insects have evolved a number of specialised mechanisms to defend their colonies against parasites, including grooming, antibiotic secretions and hygienic behaviour (e.g. Kermarrec et al, 1986;Rosengaus et al, 1998Rosengaus et al, , 2000Rosengaus et al, , 2004Schmid-Hempel, 1998;Christie et al, 2002;Hart and Ratnieks, 2001;2002;Hughes et al, 2002;Poulsen et al, 2002a,b;Turillazzi et al, 2004;Boomsma et al, in press). The effectiveness of these mechanisms is such that rather than the group-living lifestyle being associated with increased susceptibility to disease, as is expected, it may instead result in decreased susceptibility (Rosengaus et al, 1998;Hughes et al, 2002;Shimizu and Yamaji, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of the immune responses of males and workers of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior and the effect of infection

et al. 2005

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Summary. Parasites represent significant challenges to social insects. The high density, interaction rate and relatedness of individuals within colonies are all predicted to make social insect colonies particularly vulnerable to parasites. To cope with this pressure, social insects have evolved a number of defence mechanisms. These include the immune response, which, aside from in bumblebees, has been relatively little studied in social insects. Here we compare the immune responses of males and workers of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior and examine the effect upon immunocompetence of prior exposure to a virulent parasite. Males have a far lower immune response than workers, suggesting either haploid susceptibility or reduced investment in immunity by the short-lived males. There was also significantly less variation in the immune response of males than of workers, which may be due to leaf-cutting ant workers being more variable in age or more genetically diverse within colonies. When exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium, workers expressed a substantially reduced immune response 96 h after infection, suggesting that the immune system was either depleted by having to respond to the Metarhizium infection or was depressed by the parasite. The results suggest that the immune response is a costly and limited process, but further experiments are needed to distinguish between the alternative explanations for the effects observed.

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Disease resistance: a benefit of sociality in the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollis (Isoptera: Termopsidae)

Cited by 241 publications

References 33 publications

Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Leaf-Cutting Ant Societies

Genetic Diversity and Disease Resistance in Leaf-Cutting Ant Societies

Evidence for antiseptic behaviour towards sick adult bees in honey bee colonies

Examination of the immune responses of males and workers of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex echinatior and the effect of infection

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