Collaborative Research: Reproductive Behavior and Pathogen Resistance

这个项目将在性选择和生殖行为的背景下研究抵抗病原体的进化。这项以蟋蟀为模式生物的研究有两个组成部分。首先，对免疫的影响，求偶的一个独特的组成部分，胫刺喂养，将检查在地蟋蟀异种。雌性在交配时在雄性的胫骨刺上留下了一个伤口，以此为食，这样雌性就可以进入雄性的循环系统，并可能损害它的免疫反应。通过这种婚姻礼物进行的性选择是如何影响男性和女性抵抗疾病的能力的？一系列的实验将在未交配和交配的雄性和雌性动物身上进行，研究胫骨摄食对囊化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不同生活史的几种地面蟋蟀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资源进行繁殖，与在较长时间内分散投资的物种相比，季节性物种在免疫方面是否表现出不同的性别偏见模式？尽管雄性脊椎动物的免疫反应通常比雌性弱，但这种差异很少在无脊椎动物中被探索，尽管在这些动物中进行实验和现场操作具有优势。此外，很少有研究调查生殖行为和抗病能力之间的关系。

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.