The behavioral immune system in grey mouse lemurs: Causes of individual variation in behavioral defenses and consequences for socio-ecological traits

灰鼠狐猴的行为免疫系统：行为防御个体差异的原因及其对社会生态特征的影响

• 批准号: 432648459
• 负责人: Dr. Clémence Poirotte, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Verhaltensökologie und Soziobiologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/432648459?language=en
• 关键词: behavioral; immune; system; grey; mouse

Parasite-mediated selection has driven the emergence of host defense mechanisms to limit the spread of parasites. In addition to the physiological immune system (‘ΨIS’), animals have developed a “behavioral immune system” (‘βIS’), which comprises a sophisticated set of anti-parasitic strategies, such as avoidance of contaminated substrates or infected conspecifics. Individuals vary in their degree of investment in behavioral defenses, which may contribute to heterogeneity in parasite distribution within populations and have far-reaching consequences for socio-ecological traits of species. To maximize their fitness, animals should balance investment between ΨIS and βIS because both systems incur energetic costs. However, the determinants underlying variation in anti-parasitic behavior remain poorly understood and few studies have investigated interactions between expression of βIS and ΨIS. To contribute to this emerging research field, I propose to investigate anti-parasitic behaviors in grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). This nocturnal Malagasy primate exhibits a rare form of facultative sociality: some animals form day-time sleeping associations while others sleep alone. Preliminary work revealed that this species exhibits several anti-parasitic behaviors and that individuals show variation in parasite avoidance. In a first part, using behavioral tests conducted on both captive and wild animals, I will investigate causes of inter-individual variation in parasite avoidance behaviors. In particular, I will test (1) whether group-living individuals invest more in behavioral defenses than their solitary counterparts to cope with parasite-mediated costs of sociality, and (2) whether behavioral defenses may compensate for poor or temporarily compromised individual immuno-competence. In a second part, combining a correlative and an experimental approach, I will investigate the influence of these avoidance behaviors on several aspects of their sleeping ecology. In particular, I will test (1) whether nest parasite contamination influences sleeping site usage patterns and (2) whether individual parasite status influences sleeping associations. This project has the potential to shed light on the crucial role played by the βIS in the co-evolutionary dynamics between hosts and their parasites.

寄生虫介导的选择推动了宿主防御机制的出现，以限制寄生虫的传播。除了生理免疫系统（"β IS“）之外，动物还开发了“行为免疫系统”（“β IS”），其包括一套复杂的抗寄生虫策略，例如避免污染的底物或感染的同种。个体在行为防御方面的投资程度不同，这可能导致种群内寄生虫分布的异质性，并对物种的社会生态特征产生深远的影响。为了最大化它们的适应性，动物应该在β IS和βIS之间平衡投资，因为这两个系统都会产生能量成本。然而，抗寄生虫行为变化的决定因素仍然知之甚少，很少有研究调查βIS和β IS表达之间的相互作用。为了促进这一新兴的研究领域，我建议调查灰鼠狐猴（Microcebus murinus）的抗寄生虫行为。这种夜间活动的马达加斯加灵长类动物表现出一种罕见的兼性社会性：一些动物形成白天睡觉的协会，而另一些则独自睡觉。初步工作表明，该物种表现出几种抗寄生虫的行为和个人表现出变异的寄生虫回避。在第一部分中，使用圈养和野生动物进行的行为测试，我将调查寄生虫回避行为的个体间差异的原因。特别是，我将测试（1）群体生活的个体是否比独居的个体在行为防御方面投入更多，以科普寄生虫介导的社会性成本，以及（2）行为防御是否可以补偿个人免疫能力的低下或暂时受损。在第二部分，结合相关和实验的方法，我将调查这些回避行为对他们的睡眠生态的几个方面的影响。特别是，我将测试（1）是否巢寄生虫污染影响睡眠网站的使用模式和（2）是否个别寄生虫状态影响睡眠协会。该项目有可能揭示βIS在宿主及其寄生虫之间的共同进化动力学中所起的关键作用。