Examining costs of induced and constitutive immune investment in <i>Tenebrio molitor</i>

Armitage, Sophie A. O.; Thompson, John; Rolff, Jens; Siva‐Jothy, Michael T.

doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00551.x

Cited by 148 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…evolutionary) sense since the process of cellular 'suicide' has demonstrable fitness advantages to the organism; the autoreactive damage, we quantified, will result in a fitness cost. A recent study on T. molitor (Armitage et al 2003) using the same type of nylon implant protocol resulted in a 15% reduction in longevity in insulted insects despite the ideal resource conditions of the study (Armitage et al 2003). Our results suggest that some of these fitness costs arose from selfharm to Malpighian tubules as a consequence of responding to the immune insult.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

Self-harm caused by an insect's innate immunity

2006

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It has been a long-held assumption that the innate immune system of insects causes self-harm when used to combat an immune insult. We show empirically that this assumption is correct. Invertebrate innate immunity relies heavily on effector systems which, on activation, produce cytotoxins that kill pathogens. Reliance on these robust, fast-acting, generic killing mechanisms ensures a potent and rapid response to pathogen invasion, but has the potential disadvantage of causing self-damage. We show that the innate immune response against an immune insult produces measurable phenotypic and functional damage to self-tissue in the beetle Tenebrio molitor. This type of self-harm (autoreactivity) and the life-history implications that arise from it are important to understand evolutionary phenomena such as the dynamics between hosts and parasites as well as the nature of immune system costs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

Self-harm caused by an insect's innate immunity

2006

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“…The link between SD in color pigmentation and IeSC is also consistent with male harassment of females being pronounced in this species and causing significant reductions in female life span (e.g., Maklakov and Bonduriansky 2009), as well as with the male genitalia, by successive remating, causing potentially severe damage to the female reproductive tract (Hotzy and Arnqvist 2009). Alternatively, the result may be a consequence of competing demands: lighter (more male-like) coloration may be associated with increased allocation to reproduction in females, since increased melanization is known to be positively genetically correlated with allocation to important aspects of immune function and negatively related to fecundity in other insects (e.g., Armitage et al 2003;Armitage and Siva-Jothy 2005;Wittkopp and Beldade 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intralocus Sexual Conflict and the Tragedy of the Commons in Seed Beetles

Berger

Martinossi‐Allibert

Grieshop

et al. 2016

The American Naturalist

128

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Online enhancements: appendixes, supplemental PDF. Dryad data: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bc94c.abstract: The evolution of male traits that inflict direct harm on females during mating interactions can result in a so-called tragedy of the commons, where selfish male strategies depress population viability. This tragedy of the commons can be magnified by intralocus sexual conflict (IaSC) whenever alleles that reduce fecundity when expressed in females spread in the population because of their benefits in males. We evaluated this prediction by detailed phenotyping of 73 isofemale lines of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. We quantified genetic variation in life history and morphology, as well as associated covariance in male and female adult reproductive success. In parallel, we created replicated artificial populations of each line and measured their productivity. Genetic constraints limited independent trait expression in the sexes, and we identified several instances of sexually antagonistic covariance between traits and fitness, signifying IaSC. Population productivity was strongly positively correlated to female adult reproductive success but uncorrelated with male reproductive success. Moreover, male (female) phenotypic optima for several traits under sexually antagonistic selection were exhibited by the genotypes with the lowest (highest) population productivity. Our study forms a direct link between individuallevel sex-specific selection and population demography and places lifehistory traits at the epicenter of these dynamics.

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“…Melanin is involved in the melanization and sclerotization of the cuticle, and is an indicator of the investment in the immune system [93,150]. Cuticle darkness in the adult beetle correlates with pathogen resistance [93,151].…”

Section: The Role Of the Cuticle In Immunitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable farming of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor for the production of food and feed

Grau

Vilcinskas

Joop

2017

Zeitschrift Für Naturforschung C

144

100

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Abstract:The farming of edible insects is an alternative strategy for the production of protein-rich food and feed with a low ecological footprint. The industrial production of insect-derived protein is more cost-effective and energy-efficient than livestock farming or aquaculture. The mealworm Tenebrio molitor is economically among the most important species used for the large-scale conversion of plant biomass into protein. Here, we review the mass rearing of this species and its conversion into food and feed, focusing on challenges such as the contamination of food/feed products with bacteria from the insect gut and the risk of rapidly spreading pathogens and parasites. We propose solutions to prevent the outbreak of infections among farmed insects without reliance on antibiotics. Transgenerational immune priming and probiotic bacteria may provide alternative strategies for sustainable insect farming.

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Examining costs of induced and constitutive immune investment in Tenebrio molitor

Cited by 148 publications

References 37 publications

Self-harm caused by an insect's innate immunity

Self-harm caused by an insect's innate immunity

Intralocus Sexual Conflict and the Tragedy of the Commons in Seed Beetles

Sustainable farming of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor for the production of food and feed

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