Within the fortress: A specialized parasite is not discriminated against in a social insect society
Within the fortress: A specialized parasite is not discriminated against in a social insect society
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0193536
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发表时间：
2018-02-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Hughes, David P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gracia, Emilia Sola;de Bekker, Charissa;Hughes, David P.
社会性昆虫群体的功能凝聚力，部分原因是对相关个体的利他行为。这些菌落可以通过两种不同的方式受到寄生虫的影响，无论是在个体还是整个菌落的水平上。因此，群居昆虫的群体可能会与受感染的个体发生冲突，从而降低了它们的凝聚力。因此，社会性昆虫的寄生虫为我们提供了一个框架，除了传统上认为的冲突，由于多次交配的低遗传相关性的群体，社会性昆虫群体内的冲突进行研究。在我们的研究中，我们使用的行为操纵真菌病原体，Ophiocorrhiza kimflemingiae（= unilateralis）和它的主机，Camponotus castaneus，询问殖民地成员是否能够检测到感染的个人。这种检测对殖民地来说是最佳的，因为受感染的工蜂会死在觅食小径附近，在那里真菌会发育出外部结构并释放孢子感染其他蜂群成员。确定C.为了使工作人员能够检测到这些未来的威胁，我们使用了连续时间点观察加上更长的连续观察来辨别对感染者的任何歧视。在观察了1,240个小时的录像后，我们发现受感染的个体在真菌感染过程中并没有被从殖民地中移走，而是继续接受食物。我们还计算了工蜂与巢穴入口之间的距离，共35，691个数据点，发现受感染的工蜂在巢穴入口附近花费的时间更多。总的来说，这些结果表明健康的个体不会在他们的巢友体内检测到寄生虫。殖民地无法检测到感染个体，这使得O. kimflemingiae在殖民地内发育，同时接受食物和天敌的保护，这些天敌可能在寄生虫完成发育之前破坏或杀死其蚂蚁宿主。
Social insect colonies function cohesively due, in part, to altruistic behaviors performed towards related individuals. These colonies can be affected by parasites in two distinct ways, either at the level of the individual or the entire colony. As such, colonies of social insects can experience conflict with infected individuals reducing the cohesiveness that typifies them. Parasites of social insects therefore offer us a framework to study conflicts within social insect colonies in addition to the traditionally viewed conflicts afforded by groups of low genetic relatedness due to multiple mating for example. In our study, we use the behavior manipulating fungal pathogen, Ophiocordyceps kimflemingiae (= unilateralis) and its host, Camponotus castaneus, to ask if colony members are able to detect infected individuals. Such detection would be optimal for the colony since infected workers die near foraging trails where the fungus develops its external structures and releases spores that infect other colony members. To determine if C. castaneus workers can detect these future threats, we used continuous -time point observations coupled with longer continuous observations to discern any discrimination towards infected individuals. After observing 1,240 hours of video footage we found that infected individuals are not removed from the colony and continuously received food during the course of fungal infection. We also calculated the distances between workers and the nest entrance in a total of 35,691 data points to find infected workers spent more time near the entrance of the nest. Taken together, these results suggest healthy individuals do not detect the parasite inside their nestmates. The colony's inability to detect infected individuals allows O. kimflemingiae to develop within the colony, while receiving food and protection from natural enemies, which could damage or kill its ant host before the parasite has completed its development.