Termite soldiers contribute to social immunity by synthesizing potent oral secretions
- The importance of soldiers to termite Society defence has long been recognized, but the contribution of soldiers to other societal functions, such as colony immunity, is less well understood. We explore this issue by examining the role of soldiers in protecting nestmates against pathogen infection. Even though they are unable to engage in grooming behaviour, we find that the presence of soldiers of the Darwin termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis, significantly improves the survival of nestmates following entomopathogenic infection. We also show that the copious exocrine oral secretions produced by Darwin termite soldiers contain a high concentration of Proteins involved in digestion, chemical biosynthesis, and immunity. The oral secretions produced by soldiers are sufficient to protect nestmates against infection, and they have potent inhibitory activity against a broad spectrum of microbes. Our findings support the view that soldiers may play an important role in colony immunity, andThe importance of soldiers to termite Society defence has long been recognized, but the contribution of soldiers to other societal functions, such as colony immunity, is less well understood. We explore this issue by examining the role of soldiers in protecting nestmates against pathogen infection. Even though they are unable to engage in grooming behaviour, we find that the presence of soldiers of the Darwin termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis, significantly improves the survival of nestmates following entomopathogenic infection. We also show that the copious exocrine oral secretions produced by Darwin termite soldiers contain a high concentration of Proteins involved in digestion, chemical biosynthesis, and immunity. The oral secretions produced by soldiers are sufficient to protect nestmates against infection, and they have potent inhibitory activity against a broad spectrum of microbes. Our findings support the view that soldiers may play an important role in colony immunity, and broaden our understanding of the possible function of soldiers during the origin of soldier-first societies.…
Autor*innen: | Shulin He, P. R. Johnston, B. Kuropka, S. Lokatis, C. Weise, Rüdiger Plarre, Hans-Jörg KunteORCiD, Dino Peter McMahon |
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Dokumenttyp: | Zeitschriftenartikel |
Veröffentlichungsform: | Verlagsliteratur |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | Insect Molecular Biology |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2018 |
Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 4 Material und Umwelt |
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere | |
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.1 Biologische Materialschädigung und Referenzorganismen | |
Herausgeber (Institution): | Royal Entomological Society |
Verlag: | Wiley-Blackwell |
Verlagsort: | Oxford |
Jahrgang/Band: | 27 |
Ausgabe/Heft: | 5 |
Erste Seite: | 564 |
Letzte Seite: | 576 |
DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik |
Freie Schlagwörter: | Antimicrobial; Immunity; Proteome; Social; Soldier External |
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Umwelt |
DOI: | 10.1111/imb.12499 |
ISSN: | 1365-2583 |
ISSN: | 0962-1075 |
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 17.08.2018 |
Referierte Publikation: | Ja |
Datum der Eintragung als referierte Publikation: | 04.10.2018 |