Cotter, S. C., Topham, E., Price, A. J. P. and Kilner, R. M. (2010) Fitness costs associated with mounting a social immune response. Ecology Letters, 13 (9). pp. 1114-1123. ISSN 1461-023X
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Cotter et al 2010 Ecol Letts pre print.pdf - Whole Document Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 232kB |
Item Type: | Article |
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Item Status: | Live Archive |
Abstract
Social immune systems comprise immune defences mounted by individuals for the benefit of others (sensu Cotter & Kilner 2010). Just as with other forms of immunity, mounting a social immune response is expected to be costly but so far these fitness costs are unknown. We measured the costs of social immunity in a sub-social burying beetle, a species in which two or more adults defend a carrion breeding resource for their young by smearing the flesh with antibacterial anal exudates. Our experiments on widowed females reveal that a bacterial challenge to the breeding resource upregulates the antibacterial activity of a female’s exudates, and this subsequently reduces her lifetime reproductive success. We suggest that the costliness of social immunity is a source of evolutionary conflict between breeding adults on a carcass, and that the phoretic communities that the beetles transport between carrion may assist the beetle by offsetting these costs.
Keywords: | social insect, phoresy, antimicrobial, sexual conflict, cooperation, mite, ecological immunity |
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Subjects: | C Biological Sciences > C182 Evolution C Biological Sciences > C340 Entomology C Biological Sciences > C150 Environmental Biology C Biological Sciences > C120 Behavioural Biology C Biological Sciences > C180 Ecology C Biological Sciences > C300 Zoology C Biological Sciences > C100 Biology |
Divisions: | College of Science > School of Life Sciences |
Related URLs: | |
ID Code: | 16020 |
Deposited On: | 17 Nov 2014 14:57 |
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