Affiliation:
1. Field of Genetics and Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Abstract
Post-mating reduction in immune defence is common in female insects, and a trade-off between mating and immunity could affect the evolution of immunity. In this work, we tested the capacity of virgin and mated female
Drosophila melanogaster
to defend against infection by four bacterial pathogens. We found that female
D. melanogaster
suffer post-mating immunosuppression in a pathogen-dependent manner. The effect of mating was seen after infection with two bacterial pathogens (
Providencia rettgeri
and
Providencia alcalifaciens
), though not after infection with two other bacteria (
Enterococcus faecalis
and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
). We then asked whether the evolution of post-mating immunosuppression is primarily a ‘female’ or ‘male’ trait by assaying for genetic variation among females for the degree of post-mating immune suppression they experience and among males for the level of post-mating immunosuppression they elicit in their mates. We also assayed for an interaction between male and female genotypes to test the specific hypothesis that the evolution of a trade-off between mating and immune defence in females might be being driven by sexual conflict. We found that females, but not males, harbour significant genetic variation for post-mating immunosuppression, and we did not detect an interaction between female and male genotypes. We thus conclude that post-mating immune depression is predominantly a ‘female’ trait, and find no evidence that it is evolving under sexual conflict.
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
Cited by
68 articles.
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