TY - JOUR A1 - Esparza Mora, Margy Alejandra A1 - Davis, H. E. A1 - Meconcelli, Stefania A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter A1 - Plarre, Rüdiger T1 - Inhibition of a secreted immune molecule interferes with termite social immunity N2 - Social immune behaviors are described in a great variety of insect societies and their role in preventing emerging infectious diseases has become a major topic in insect research. The social immune system consists of multiple layers, ranging from the synthesis of external immune molecules to the coordination of individual behaviors into sophisticated collective defensive tasks. But our understanding of how complex group-level behavioral defenses are orchestrated has remained limited. We sought to address this gap in knowledge by investigating the relationship between the external activity of an important immune effector molecule in termites, Gram negative binding protein 2 (GNBP-2) and collective grooming and cannibalism. We reasoned that as an external enzyme capable of degrading entomopathogenic fungi, GNBP-2 can facilitate the spread of pathogenic molecules in the colony, and thus serve to trigger collective defenses in a manner analogous to pathogen-associated molecular signatures (PAMPs) of the individual immune system. To test whether GNBP-2 could play a role in regulating social immune behavior, we experimentally inhibited its fungicidal activity using the glycomimetic molecule, D-d-gluconolactone (GDL) and recorded collective behavioral responses to an infected nestmate. Contrary to expectations, GNBP-2 inhibition did not influence the rate or intensity of grooming of either control or fungus-infected nestmates. By contrast, we found that the probability of being harmed through defensive cannibalistic behaviors was significantly reduced by the inhibition of GNBP-2. Our findings indicate that the regulation of collective immune behaviors may depend in part on the external secretion of an enzyme originating from the individual immune system, but that other cues are also necessary. KW - Entomopathogen KW - Termite KW - Social immunity KW - Cannibalism KW - GNBP-2 KW - Hygienic behavior KW - GDL KW - Metarhizium PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-520037 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.00075 SN - 2296-701X VL - 8 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-52003 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Esparza Mora, Margy Alejandra A1 - Mazumdar, Tilottama A1 - Jiang, Shixiong A1 - Radek, Renate A1 - Thiem, Julian N. A1 - Feng, Linshan A1 - Petrašiūnaitė, Vesta A1 - Banasiak, Ronald A1 - Golian, Marek A1 - Gleske, Melanie A1 - Christophe, Lucas A1 - Springer, Andreas A1 - Buellesbach, Jan A1 - McMahon, Dino Peter T1 - Defensive behavior is linked to altered surface chemistry following infection in a termite society N2 - The care-kill response determines whether a sick individual will be treated or eliminated from an insect society, but little is known about the physiological underpinnings of this process. We exploited the stepwise infection dynamics of an entomopathogenic fungus in a termite to explore how care-kill transitions occur, and identify the chemical cues behind these shifts. We found collective responses towards pathogen-injected individuals to vary according to severity and timing of pathogen challenge, with elimination, via cannibalism, occurring sooner in response to a severe active infection. However, injection with inactivated fungal blastospores also resulted in increased albeit delayed cannibalism, even though it did not universally cause host death. This indicates that the decision to eliminate an individual is triggered before pathogen viability or terminal disease status has been established. We then compared the surface chemistry of differently challenged individuals, finding increased amounts of long-chained methyl-branched alkanes with similar branching patterns in individuals injected with both dead and viable fungal blastospores, with the latter showing the largest increase. This coincided with the highest amounts of observed cannibalism as well as signs of severe moribundity. Our study provides new mechanistic insight into the emergent collective behaviors involved in the disease defense of a termite society. KW - Termite KW - Social Immunity KW - CHC KW - Pathogen PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-594468 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42947-9 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature CY - London AN - OPUS4-59446 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -