A viral aphrodisiac in the cricket Gryllus texensis.

نویسندگان

  • Shelley A Adamo
  • Ilya Kovalko
  • Russell H Easy
  • Don Stoltz
چکیده

We identified the insect iridovirus IIV-6/CrIV as a pathogen of the cricket Gryllus texensis using electron microscopy (EM) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. EM showed that the virus attacks the fat body, an organ important for protein production, immune function and lipid storage. During infection the fat body hypertrophied, but egg production withered, leaving the lateral oviducts empty of eggs; the females were effectively sterile. EM of the testis of infected males suggests that the testis was not invaded by the virus, although sperm taken from the spermatophores of infected males showed little or no motility. Nevertheless, males and females continued to mate when infected. In fact, infected males were quicker to court females than uninfected controls. The virus benefits from the continued sexual behaviour of its host; transmission studies show that the virus can be spread through sexual contact. Sickness behaviour, the adaptive reduction of feeding and sexual behaviour that is induced by an activated immune system, was absent in infected crickets. Total haemolymph protein was reduced, as was phenoloxidase activity, suggesting a reduction in immune protein production by the fat body. The evidence suggests that during IIV-6/CrIV infection, the immune signal(s) that induces sickness behaviour is absent. Curtailment of a host's sickness behaviour may be necessary for any pathogen that is spread by host sexual behaviour.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Some like it hot: the effects of climate change on reproduction, immune function and disease resistance in the cricket Gryllus texensis.

In many parts of the world, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of heat waves. How do heat waves impact short-lived poikilotherms such as insects? In the cricket, Gryllus texensis, 6 days of elevated temperatures (i.e. 7°C above the average field temperature and 5°C above their preferred temperature) resulted in increased egg laying, faster egg development and greater mass g...

متن کامل

The behavioural effects of predator-induced stress responses in the cricket (Gryllus texensis): the upside of the stress response.

Predator-induced stress responses are thought to reduce an animal's risk of being eaten. Therefore, these stress responses should enhance anti-predator behaviour. We found that individual insects (the cricket Gryllus texensis) show reliable behavioural responses (i.e. behavioural types) in a plus-shaped maze. An individual's behaviour in the plus maze remained consistent for at least 1/2 of its...

متن کامل

Cricket Song in Sympatry: Species Specificity of Song without Reproductive Character Displacement in Gryllus rubens

Previousworkwith the cryptic sister species pair of Þeld crickets,Gryllus texensisCade & Otte and Gryllus rubens Scudder, has implicated sexual selection in the speciation process. That study examined reproductive character displacement (RCD) in male song and female preference for song in G. texensis. No evidence of RCD was found. Here, we provide a similar analysis of RCD in G. rubens song and...

متن کامل

Phenotypic covariance structure and its divergence for acoustic mate attraction signals among four cricket species

The phenotypic variance-covariance matrix (P) describes the multivariate distribution of a population in phenotypic space, providing direct insight into the appropriateness of measured traits within the context of multicollinearity (i.e., do they describe any significant variance that is independent of other traits), and whether trait covariances restrict the combinations of phenotypes availabl...

متن کامل

Flight behaviour attenuates the trade-off between flight capability and reproduction in a wing polymorphic cricket.

Flight-dimorphic insects have been used extensively to study trade-offs between energetically costly traits. Individuals may develop and maintain structures required for flight, or alternatively they may invest in reproduction. Previous experiments have not examined whether flight itself might affect investment into reproduction. As in other Gryllus species, flight-capable individuals of the wi...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • The Journal of experimental biology

دوره 217 Pt 11  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2014