dc.contributor.author
Esparza-Mora, M. Alejandra
dc.contributor.author
Mazumdar, Tilottama
dc.contributor.author
Jiang, Shixiong
dc.contributor.author
Radek, Renate
dc.contributor.author
Thiem, Julian N.
dc.contributor.author
Feng, Linshan
dc.contributor.author
Petrašiūnaitė, Vesta
dc.contributor.author
Banasiak, Ronald
dc.contributor.author
Springer, Andreas
dc.contributor.author
McMahon, Dino P.
dc.date.accessioned
2023-11-24T09:30:34Z
dc.date.available
2023-11-24T09:30:34Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/41606
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-41326
dc.description.abstract
The care-kill response determines whether a sick individual will be treated or eliminated from an insect society, but little is known about the physiological underpinnings of this process. We exploited the stepwise infection dynamics of an entomopathogenic fungus in a termite to explore how care-kill transitions occur, and identify the chemical cues behind these shifts. We found collective responses towards pathogen-injected individuals to vary according to severity and timing of pathogen challenge, with elimination, via cannibalism, occurring sooner in response to a severe active infection. However, injection with inactivated fungal blastospores also resulted in increased albeit delayed cannibalism, even though it did not universally cause host death. This indicates that the decision to eliminate an individual is triggered before pathogen viability or terminal disease status has been established. We then compared the surface chemistry of differently challenged individuals, finding increased amounts of long-chained methyl-branched alkanes with similar branching patterns in individuals injected with both dead and viable fungal blastospores, with the latter showing the largest increase. This coincided with the highest amounts of observed cannibalism as well as signs of severe moribundity. Our study provides new mechanistic insight into the emergent collective behaviors involved in the disease defense of a termite society.
en
dc.format.extent
16 Seiten
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject.ddc
500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
dc.title
Defensive behavior is linked to altered surface chemistry following infection in a termite society
dc.type
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.articlenumber
20606
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.1038/s41598-023-42947-9
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.journaltitle
Scientific Reports
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.volume
13
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42947-9
refubium.affiliation
Biologie, Chemie, Pharmazie
refubium.affiliation.other
Institut für Biologie
refubium.funding
Springer Nature DEAL
refubium.note.author
Die Publikation wurde aus Open Access Publikationsgeldern der Freien Universität Berlin gefördert.
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access
dcterms.isPartOf.eissn
2045-2322