COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Reproductive behavior and immune defense

本项目将在性选择和生殖行为的背景下研究对病原体的抵抗力的进化。 使用蟋蟀作为模式生物，研究有两个组成部分。 首先，对免疫力的一个独特的组成部分的求爱，胫骨骨刺喂养，将在地面板球Allonemobius socius检查的效果。 雌性在交配期间从雄性胫骨上的刺上的伤口进食，使她能够进入雄性的循环系统，并可能损害他的免疫反应。 通过这种婚姻礼物的性选择是如何影响男性和女性抵抗疾病的能力的？ 对处女和交配的雄性和雌性进行的一系列实验将检查胫骨喂养对包囊能力和对病原体的抵抗力的影响。 其次，一项比较研究将调查几种生活史不同的地面蟋蟀物种的免疫反应的性别差异。 在季节性物种中，雌性必须在有限的时间内隔离生殖资源，与投资分散在较长时间内的物种相比，它们在免疫方面表现出不同的性别偏见模式吗？ 虽然雄性脊椎动物的免疫反应通常比雌性弱，但在无脊椎动物中很少探索这种差异，尽管在这些动物中进行实验和现场操作具有优势。 此外，很少有研究探讨生殖行为和抗病性之间的关系。

Lay summaryThis project will examine the evolution of resistance to pathogens in the context of sexual selection and reproductive behavior. Using crickets as model organisms, the research has two components. First, the effect on immunity of a unique component of courtship, tibial spur feeding, will be examined in the ground cricket Allonemobius socius. The female feeds from a wound she makes on a spur on the male's tibia during mating, allowing her access to the male's circulatory system and potentially compromising his immune response. How has sexual selection via this nuptial gift influenced male and female ability to resist disease? A series of experiments on virgin and mated males and females will examine the effect of tibial feeding on encapsulation ability and resistance to pathogens. Second, a comparative study will investigate sex differences in immune response across several ground cricket species that differ in life history. Do seasonal species, in which females must sequester resources for reproduction over a restricted period, show a different pattern of sex bias in immunity than species in which investment is spread out over a longer period? Although male vertebrates have generally weaker immune responses than females, such a difference has rarely been explored in invertebrates, despite the advantages of performing experimental and field manipulations in these animals. Furthermore, little research has examined the relationship between reproductive behavior and disease resistance.