期刊
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
卷 239, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113524
关键词
Mating; Behavioural immunity; Reproductive biology; Macrocheles; Drosophila; Grooming behavior; Parasite Resistance; Defensive Behaviour; Reproductive Trade-offs; Mate Harassment
资金
- Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship Program (doctoral)
- NSERC [435245]
The study highlights a trade-off between reproduction and parasite resistance in a host-macroparasite system, showing that mating increases susceptibility to mite infection among female flies and reduces their anti-parasitic defenses.
Reproduction is a key determinant of organismal fitness, but organisms almost always face the threat of parasite infection. Thus, potential trade-offs between mating and parasite resistance may have substantial impacts on the ecology and evolution of host species. Although trade-offs between microbial resistance and mating in arthro-pods are well-documented, there is a paucity of evidence that mating compromises host resistance to the ubiquitous threat posed by ectoparasites. Despite the centrality of reproduction to host fitness and the wide-spread risk of parasites, there is a dearth of experiments showing a trade-off between mating/reproduction and anti-parasite behaviours. In this study, we test if mating increases the susceptibility of female flies to mite infection. We also investigated a potential underlying mechanism for the trade-off: that mating reduces overall endurance and hence anti-parasitic defenses among female flies. We experimentally mated female Drosophila nigrospiracula, with or without a chance to recover from male harassment, and challenged them with a natural ectoparasite, the mite Macrocheles subbadius. Mated females, regardless of time for recovery from male harass-ment, acquired more infections than unmated females. Furthermore, mated females had lower endurance in negative geotaxis assays, suggesting the increased susceptibility is due to reduced endurance. Our research shows a trade-off between reproduction and parasite resistance in a host-macroparasite system and suggests that trade -off theory is a fruitful direction for understanding these associations.
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