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Defend and disinfect: a dual use for soldiers in a complex insect society

  • It is thought that the primary function of soldier castes in insect societies is to protect colonies against macroscale predators and parasites. By comparison, little attention has been paid to the role of soldiers against pathogenic microorganisms. This is a significant gap in knowledge because in non-hymenopteran societies, such as the eusocial termites, the first-evolved, and arguably most important sterile caste, is the soldier. Here, we investigate whether soldiers of the wood-eating termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis, play a significant role in social immunity. Firstly, we show that uninfected soldiers improve the survival of worker nestmates exposed to a lethal dose of a fungal pathogen, despite the fact that soldiers (unlike workers) cannot allogroom. Hazard ratios of pathogen-exposed workers decreased from 6.616 in infected groups to 4.376 and 2.786 in infected groups containing uninfected workers and soldiers, respectively. To explore the basis of soldier protection, weIt is thought that the primary function of soldier castes in insect societies is to protect colonies against macroscale predators and parasites. By comparison, little attention has been paid to the role of soldiers against pathogenic microorganisms. This is a significant gap in knowledge because in non-hymenopteran societies, such as the eusocial termites, the first-evolved, and arguably most important sterile caste, is the soldier. Here, we investigate whether soldiers of the wood-eating termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis, play a significant role in social immunity. Firstly, we show that uninfected soldiers improve the survival of worker nestmates exposed to a lethal dose of a fungal pathogen, despite the fact that soldiers (unlike workers) cannot allogroom. Hazard ratios of pathogen-exposed workers decreased from 6.616 in infected groups to 4.376 and 2.786 in infected groups containing uninfected workers and soldiers, respectively. To explore the basis of soldier protection, we applied soldier-derived oral secretions to infected worker cuticle, resulting in significantly improved worker survival. Soldiers that contacted infected workers were also more active and produced secretions with significantly greater mass variance than soldiers exposed to uninfected workers. Significantly, we show that secretions produced by soldiers inhibit the growth of a broad range of microorganisms, including gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, in addition to fungi. Our findings demonstrate that soldiers can contribute powerful antimicrobial factors to external immune defenses, effectively complementing behaviour-based protective activities provided by workers.zeige mehrzeige weniger

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Metadaten
Autor*innen:Shulin He
Koautor*innen:Dino Peter McMahon, S. Lokatis
Dokumenttyp:Vortrag
Veröffentlichungsform:Präsentation
Sprache:Englisch
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung:2016
DDC-Klassifikation:Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik
Freie Schlagwörter:External immunity; Social insect; Termite
Veranstaltung:International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI 2016)
Veranstaltungsort:Helsinki, Finland
Beginndatum der Veranstaltung:08.08.2016
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments:Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access")
Datum der Freischaltung:23.11.2016
Referierte Publikation:Nein
Eingeladener Vortrag:Nein
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