Infection with the trypanosome Crithidia bombi and expression of immune-related genes in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Social bees and other insects are frequently parasitized by a large range of different microorganisms. Among these is Crithidia bombi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), a common gut parasite of bumblebees, Bombus spp. (Insecta: Apidae). Bumblebees are important pollinators in commercial and natural environments. There are clear detrimental effects of C. bombi infections on the fitness of bumblebees. However, little has been known about how the bee's immune system responds to infections with trypanosome parasites. Here, we study the immune response of Bombus terrestris on infection by C. bombi. We measured the expression of four immune-related genes (Hemomucin, MyD88, Relish, and TEP7) using RT-qPCR in adult B. terrestris workers that were either healthy or infected with the trypanosome parasite C. bombi. The potential recognition gene Hemomucin was significantly upregulated in the infected bees. Further, there was substantial and significant variation in all four genes among different bumblebee colonies irrespective of infection status.
منابع مشابه
Immune Gene Expression in Bombus terrestris: Signatures of Infection Despite Strong Variation among Populations, Colonies, and Sister Workers
Ecological immunology relies on variation in resistance to parasites. Colonies of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris vary in their susceptibility to the trypanosome gut parasite Crithidia bombi, which reduces colony fitness. To understand the possible origin of this variation in resistance we assayed the expression of 28 immunologically important genes in foraging workers. We deliberately included...
متن کاملNatural variation in the genetic architecture of a host-parasite interaction in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris.
The genetic architecture of fitness-relevant traits in natural populations is a topic that has remained almost untouched by quantitative genetics. Given the importance of parasitism for the host's fitness, we used QTL mapping to study the genetic architecture of traits relevant for host-parasite interactions in the trypanosome parasite, Crithidia bombi and its host, Bombus terrestris. The three...
متن کاملAntimicrobial peptides play a functional role in bumblebee anti-trypanosome defense.
Bumblebees, amongst the most important of pollinators, are under enormous population pressures. One of these is disease. The bumblebee and its gut trypanosome Crithidia bombi are one of the fundamental models of ecological immunology. Although there is previous evidence of increased immune gene expression upon Crithidia infection, recent work has focussed on the bumblebee's gut microbiota. Here...
متن کاملProtein-poor diet reduces host-specific immune gene expression in Bombus terrestris.
Parasites infect hosts non-randomly as genotypes of hosts vary in susceptibility to the same genotypes of parasites, but this specificity may be modulated by environmental factors such as nutrition. Nutrition plays an important role for any physiological investment. As immune responses are costly, resource limitation should negatively affect immunity through trade-offs with other physiological ...
متن کاملImmune response and gut microbial community structure in bumblebees after microbiota transplants.
Microbial communities are a key component of host health. As the microbiota is initially 'foreign' to a host, the host's immune system should respond to its acquisition. Such variation in the response should relate not only to host genetic background, but also to differences in the beneficial properties of the microbiota. However, little is known about such interactions. Here, we investigate th...
متن کاملذخیره 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 ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Developmental and comparative immunology
دوره 34 7 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2010