Soziale Immunität bei Insekten: Mechanismen kollektiver Abwehr gegen Krankheitserreger / Social immunity in insects: mechanisms of collective defenses against pathogens
Projekt der Abteilung für Evolutionsbiologie im Institut für Zoologie der Universität Mainz in Zusammenarbeit mit der Abteilung für Hygiene und Umweltmedizin der Universitätsmedizin Mainz/Project of the Department of Evolutionary Biology in the Institute of Zoology of the University of Mainz in cooperation with the Department of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine of the University of Mainz Medical Center

Social animals have the unique capability of mounting collective social defenses against pathogens. Over the last decades, collective social immunity has been extensively studied in species with obligatory and permanent forms of social life. However, its occurrence in less derived social systems and thus its role in the early evolution of group-living remains unclear. It was investigated in this project whether lining nests with feces is a form of collective social immunity against microbial growth in the European earwig Forficula auricularia, an insect with temporary family life and facultative maternal care. It was shown that earwig feces inhibit the growth of two gram-positive bacteria, two fungi, but not of a gram-negative bacteria. These inhibitions did not result from the consumed food or the nesting environment. It was then demonstrated that the antimicrobial activity against fungus was higher in offspring than maternal feces, but that this difference was absent against bacteria. These results demonstrate that collective social immunity occurs in a species with simple and facultative social life, and thus shed light on the general importance of this process in the evolution of group-living. Furthermore such results are useful for the development of new nature-derived antimicrobial substances.
Beteiligte/Researchers:
Janina Diehl*, Julia Meyer*, Armin Joos*, Beate Kraft, Joel Meunier*, Michael Pietsch
* Abteilung für Evolutionsbiologie im Institut für Zoologie der Universität Mainz / Department of Evolutionary Biology in the Institute of Zoology of the University of Mainz
Förderung/Funding:
DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft / DFG German Research Foundation (ME4179/3-1)
Zeitraum/Period:
2014 - 2016
Veröffentlichung/Publication:
- Diehl J, Körner M, Pietsch M, Meunier J: Feces production as a form of social immunity in an insect with facultative maternal care. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2015; 15: 40