Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger

Pull C, Hughes W, Brown M. 2013. Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger . Naturwissenschaften. 100(12), 1125–1136.

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Journal Article | Published | English

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Abstract
Pathogens exert a strong selection pressure on organisms to evolve effective immune defences. In addition to individual immunity, social organisms can act cooperatively to produce collective defences. In many ant species, queens have the option to found a colony alone or in groups with other, often unrelated, conspecifics. These associations are transient, usually lasting only as long as each queen benefits from the presence of others. In fact, once the first workers emerge, queens fight to the death for dominance. One potential advantage of co-founding may be that queens benefit from collective disease defences, such as mutual grooming, that act against common soil pathogens. We test this hypothesis by exposing single and co-founding queens to a fungal parasite, in order to assess whether queens in co-founding associations have improved survival. Surprisingly, co-foundresses exposed to the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium did not engage in cooperative disease defences, and consequently, we find no direct benefit of multiple queens on survival. However, an indirect benefit was observed, with parasite-exposed queens producing more brood when they co-founded, than when they were alone. We suggest this is due to a trade-off between reproduction and immunity. Additionally, we report an extraordinary ability of the queens to tolerate an infection for long periods after parasite exposure. Our study suggests that there are no social immunity benefits for co-founding ant queens, but that in parasite-rich environments, the presence of additional queens may nevertheless improve the chances of colony founding success.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2013-11-14
Journal Title
Naturwissenschaften
Publisher
Springer
Volume
100
Issue
12
Page
1125 - 1136
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Pull C, Hughes W, Brown M. Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger . Naturwissenschaften. 2013;100(12):1125-1136. doi:10.1007/s00114-013-1115-5
Pull, C., Hughes, W., & Brown, M. (2013). Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger . Naturwissenschaften. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1115-5
Pull, Christopher, William Hughes, and Markus Brown. “Tolerating an Infection: An Indirect Benefit of Co-Founding Queen Associations in the Ant Lasius Niger .” Naturwissenschaften. Springer, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1115-5.
C. Pull, W. Hughes, and M. Brown, “Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger ,” Naturwissenschaften, vol. 100, no. 12. Springer, pp. 1125–1136, 2013.
Pull C, Hughes W, Brown M. 2013. Tolerating an infection: an indirect benefit of co-founding queen associations in the ant Lasius niger . Naturwissenschaften. 100(12), 1125–1136.
Pull, Christopher, et al. “Tolerating an Infection: An Indirect Benefit of Co-Founding Queen Associations in the Ant Lasius Niger .” Naturwissenschaften, vol. 100, no. 12, Springer, 2013, pp. 1125–36, doi:10.1007/s00114-013-1115-5.

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