The presence of conifer resin decreases the use of the immune system in wood ants
The presence of conifer resin decreases the use of the immune system in wood ants
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1365-2311.2007.00983.x
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发表时间：
2008-06-01
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Christe, Philippe
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Castella, Gregoire;Chapuisat, Michel;Christe, Philippe
1.木蚁(Formica Paralugubra)将大量固化的针叶树脂融入它们的巢中，这降低了许多细菌和真菌的密度，并保护蚂蚁免受一些有害微生物的侵害。通过诱导不利于病原体的环境，树脂的存在可能允许工人减少他们的免疫系统的使用。目前的研究验证了树脂的存在会降低木蚁的免疫活性的假设。具体地说，比较了在富含树脂和无树脂的实验巢中工作人员体液免疫防御的三个组成部分(抗菌、裂解和酚氧化酶原活性)。树脂的存在与巢材料中细菌和真菌密度的降低以及工人抗菌和裂解活性的小幅下降有关。所有工人的酚氧化酶原活性都很低，不受树脂存在的影响。这些结果表明，使用树脂的集体药物可以降低病原体的压力，进而减少免疫系统可诱导部分的使用。更广泛地说，使用植物次生化合物可能是一种有效和经济的抗击病原体的方法。
1. Wood ants (Formica paralugubris) incorporate large amounts of solidified conifer resin into their nest, which reduces the density of many bacteria and fungi and protects the ants against some detrimental micro-organisms. By inducing an environment unfavourable to pathogens, the presence of resin may allow workers to reduce the use of their immune system.2. The present study tested the hypothesis that the presence of resin decreases the immune activity of wood ants. Specifically, three components of the humoral immune defences of workers kept in resin-rich and resin-free experimental nests (antibacterial, lytic, and prophenoloxidase activities) were compared.3. The presence of resin was associated with reduced bacterial and fungal densities in nest material and with a small decrease in worker antibacterial and lytic activities. The prophenoloxidase activity was very low in all workers and was not affected by the presence of resin.4. These results suggest that collective medication with resin reduces pathogen pressure, which in turn decreases the use of the inducible part of the immune system. More generally, the use of plant secondary compounds might be an efficient and economical way to fight pathogens.