Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 279, Issue 1735, Pages 2033-2041Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2277
Keywords
Calonectris diomedea; Cory's shearwater; immuno-ecology; maternal effects; vaccination strategies; wildlife disease ecology
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Funding
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion
- Fondos FEDER [CGL2009-11278/BOS]
- ANR
- French Polar Institute (IPEV) [0333]
- Spanish Ministry of Science
- Cabildo de Gran Canaria
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The evolution of different life-history strategies has been suggested as a major force constraining physiological mechanisms such as immunity. In some long-lived oviparous species, a prolonged persistence of maternal antibodies in offspring could thus be expected in order to protect them over their long growth period. Here, using an intergenerational vaccination design, we show that specific maternal antibodies can display an estimated half-life of 25 days post-hatching in the nestlings of a long-lived bird. This temporal persistence is much longer than previously known for birds and it suggests specific properties in the regulation of IgY immunoglobulin catabolism in such a species. We also show that maternal antibodies in the considered procellariiform species are functional as late as 20 days of age. Using a modelling approach, we highlight that the potential impact of such effects on population viability could be important, notably when using vaccination for conservation. These results have broad implications, from comparative immunology to evolutionary eco-epidemiology and conservation biology.
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