Social Behavior, Immunity and Disease Resistance in Termites

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ABSTRACTSocial Behavior, Immunity and Disease Resistance in TermitesJames Traniello and Rebeca Rosengaus Termites live in soil and decayed wood and are continuously exposed to fungal, bacterial and other diseases. Their nesting and feeding habits have thus influenced their social behavior because individuals may contact infectious agents and transmit them to nestmates. We conduct research on termite disease resistance that bridges sociobiology, immunology and chemical ecology; the dampwood termite Zootermopsis angusticollis has been our model termite species. We have found that termites can resist infection through mutual grooming, immune response and chemical secretions and have begun to understand: 1) the benefits and costs of social living in termites, in terms of disease; 2) how colony composition can reduce infection; 3) the immune response of termites; 4) how social behavior and immunity interact to increase resistance; 5) the communication of information about pathogens within colonies; and 6) the antimicrobial properties of termite secretions. Our research proposal Social Behavior, Immunity and Disease Resistance in Termites will allow us to: 1) determine if social exchanges between immune and naive termites enhance the immune response of colony members, and the mechanisms involved; 2) understand how termites recognize infection in nestmates; 3) determine if the social control of infection is based on caste- and/or individual behavioral specialization; and 4) examine the disease-resistance mechanisms of the woodroach Cryptocercus punctulatus, which is a termite ancestor that lived in families, and the drywood termite Incisitermes minor, a species which differs from Z. angusticollis in the extent to which it must cope with microbes in the nest. These studies will advance our understanding of how evolutionary history and nesting ecology, which is a central feature of termite social life, have influenced the evolution of disease resistance. This project will further our knowledge of the ways in which individuals and colonies of termites resist disease and will thus contribute to the overall understanding of how disease may influence social behavior. The proposed research, which spans several disciplines of biology, will train and educate undergraduate and graduate students. Our research also concerns a group of wood-destroying insects which have great economic importance. Through basic research on the ways termites resist disease, new and effective technologies for termite control that do not involve the use of toxic chemicals which adversely impact the environment may be identified.