---
_id: '12543'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Treating sick group members is a hallmark of collective disease defence in
vertebrates and invertebrates alike. Despite substantial effects on pathogen fitness
and epidemiology, it is still largely unknown how pathogens react to the selection
pressure imposed by care intervention. Using social insects and pathogenic fungi,
we here performed a serial passage experiment in the presence or absence of colony
members, which provide social immunity by grooming off infectious spores from
exposed individuals. We found specific effects on pathogen diversity, virulence
and transmission. Under selection of social immunity, pathogens invested into
higher spore production, but spores were less virulent. Notably, they also elicited
a lower grooming response in colony members, compared with spores from the individual
host selection lines. Chemical spore analysis suggested that the spores from social
selection lines escaped the caregivers’ detection by containing lower levels of
ergosterol, a key fungal membrane component. Experimental application of chemically
pure ergosterol indeed induced sanitary grooming, supporting its role as a microbe-associated
cue triggering host social immunity against fungal pathogens. By reducing this
detection cue, pathogens were able to evade the otherwise very effective collective
disease defences of their social hosts.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: LifeSc
acknowledgement: We thank B. M. Steinwender, N. V. Meyling and J. Eilenberg for the
fungal strains; J. Anaya-Rojas for statistical advice; the Social Immunity team
at ISTA for ant collection and experimental help, in particular H. Leitner, and
the ISTA Lab Support Facility for general laboratory support; D. Ebert, H. Schulenburg
and J. Heinze for continued project discussion; and M. Sixt, R. Roemhild and the
Social Immunity team for comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by the
German Research Foundation (CR118/3-1) within the Framework of the Priority Program
SPP 1399, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon
2020 Research and Innovation Programme (No. 771402; EPIDEMICSonCHIP), both to S.C.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
- first_name: Barbara
full_name: Milutinovic, Barbara
id: 2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Milutinovic
orcid: 0000-0002-8214-4758
- first_name: Michaela
full_name: Hönigsberger, Michaela
id: 953894f3-25bd-11ec-8556-f70a9d38ef60
last_name: Hönigsberger
- first_name: Anna V
full_name: Grasse, Anna V
id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Florian
full_name: Wiesenhofer, Florian
id: 39523C54-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Wiesenhofer
- first_name: Niklas
full_name: Kampleitner, Niklas
id: 2AC57FAC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Kampleitner
- first_name: Madhumitha
full_name: Narasimhan, Madhumitha
id: 44BF24D0-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Narasimhan
orcid: 0000-0002-8600-0671
- first_name: Thomas
full_name: Schmitt, Thomas
last_name: Schmitt
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Stock M, Milutinovic B, Hönigsberger M, et al. Pathogen evasion of social immunity.
Nature Ecology and Evolution. 2023;7:450-460. doi:10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6
apa: Stock, M., Milutinovic, B., Hönigsberger, M., Grasse, A. V., Wiesenhofer, F.,
Kampleitner, N., … Cremer, S. (2023). Pathogen evasion of social immunity. Nature
Ecology and Evolution. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6
chicago: Stock, Miriam, Barbara Milutinovic, Michaela Hönigsberger, Anna V Grasse,
Florian Wiesenhofer, Niklas Kampleitner, Madhumitha Narasimhan, Thomas Schmitt,
and Sylvia Cremer. “Pathogen Evasion of Social Immunity.” Nature Ecology and
Evolution. Springer Nature, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6.
ieee: M. Stock et al., “Pathogen evasion of social immunity,” Nature Ecology
and Evolution, vol. 7. Springer Nature, pp. 450–460, 2023.
ista: Stock M, Milutinovic B, Hönigsberger M, Grasse AV, Wiesenhofer F, Kampleitner
N, Narasimhan M, Schmitt T, Cremer S. 2023. Pathogen evasion of social immunity.
Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 450–460.
mla: Stock, Miriam, et al. “Pathogen Evasion of Social Immunity.” Nature Ecology
and Evolution, vol. 7, Springer Nature, 2023, pp. 450–60, doi:10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6.
short: M. Stock, B. Milutinovic, M. Hönigsberger, A.V. Grasse, F. Wiesenhofer, N.
Kampleitner, M. Narasimhan, T. Schmitt, S. Cremer, Nature Ecology and Evolution
7 (2023) 450–460.
date_created: 2023-02-12T23:00:59Z
date_published: 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-08-16T11:55:48Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
- _id: LifeSc
- _id: JiFr
doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '000924572800001'
pmid:
- '36732670'
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language:
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month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 450-460
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '771402'
name: Epidemics in ant societies on a chip
- _id: 25DAF0B2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
grant_number: CR-118/3-1
name: Host-Parasite Coevolution
publication: Nature Ecology and Evolution
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 2397-334X
publication_status: published
publisher: Springer Nature
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
link:
- description: News on ISTA website
relation: press_release
url: https://ista.ac.at/en/news/how-sneaky-germs-hide-from-ants/
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Pathogen evasion of social immunity
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 7
year: '2023'
...
---
_id: '7343'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Coinfections with multiple pathogens can result in complex within‐host dynamics
affecting virulence and transmission. While multiple infections are intensively
studied in solitary hosts, it is so far unresolved how social host interactions
interfere with pathogen competition, and if this depends on coinfection diversity.
We studied how the collective disease defences of ants – their social immunity
– influence pathogen competition in coinfections of same or different fungal pathogen
species. Social immunity reduced virulence for all pathogen combinations, but
interfered with spore production only in different‐species coinfections. Here,
it decreased overall pathogen sporulation success while increasing co‐sporulation
on individual cadavers and maintaining a higher pathogen diversity at the community
level. Mathematical modelling revealed that host sanitary care alone can modulate
competitive outcomes between pathogens, giving advantage to fast‐germinating,
thus less grooming‐sensitive ones. Host social interactions can hence modulate
infection dynamics in coinfected group members, thereby altering pathogen communities
at the host level and population level.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: LifeSc
acknowledgement: "We thank Bernhardt Steinwender and Jorgen Eilenberg for the fungal
strains, Xavier Espadaler, Mireia Diaz, Christiane Wanke, Lumi Viljakainen and the
Social Immunity Team at IST Austria, for help with ant collection, and Wanda Gorecka
and Gertraud Stift of the IST Austria Life Science Facility for technical support.
We are thankful to Dieter Ebert for input at all stages of the project, Roger Mundry
for statistical advice, Hinrich Schulenburg, Paul Schmid-Hempel, Yuko\r\nUlrich
and Joachim Kurtz for project discussion, Bor Kavcic for advice on growth curves,
Marcus Roper for advice on modelling work and comments on the manuscript, as well
as Marjon de Vos, Weini Huang and the Social Immunity Team for comments on the manuscript.\r\nThis
study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the Priority Programme
1399 Host-parasite Coevolution (CR 118/3 to S.C.) and the People Programme\r\n(Marie
Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)
under REA grant agreement no 291734 (ISTFELLOW to B.M.). "
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: letter_note
author:
- first_name: Barbara
full_name: Milutinovic, Barbara
id: 2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Milutinovic
orcid: 0000-0002-8214-4758
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
- first_name: Anna V
full_name: Grasse, Anna V
id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Elisabeth
full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Hilbe, Christian
id: 2FDF8F3C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Hilbe
orcid: 0000-0001-5116-955X
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. Social
immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. Ecology Letters.
2020;23(3):565-574. doi:10.1111/ele.13458
apa: Milutinovic, B., Stock, M., Grasse, A. V., Naderlinger, E., Hilbe, C., &
Cremer, S. (2020). Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.
Ecology Letters. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458
chicago: Milutinovic, Barbara, Miriam Stock, Anna V Grasse, Elisabeth Naderlinger,
Christian Hilbe, and Sylvia Cremer. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
Coinfecting Pathogens.” Ecology Letters. Wiley, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458.
ieee: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A. V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, and S. Cremer,
“Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens,” Ecology
Letters, vol. 23, no. 3. Wiley, pp. 565–574, 2020.
ista: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. 2020.
Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. Ecology Letters.
23(3), 565–574.
mla: Milutinovic, Barbara, et al. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
Coinfecting Pathogens.” Ecology Letters, vol. 23, no. 3, Wiley, 2020, pp.
565–74, doi:10.1111/ele.13458.
short: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A.V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, S. Cremer,
Ecology Letters 23 (2020) 565–574.
date_created: 2020-01-20T13:32:12Z
date_published: 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-05T16:04:49Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
- _id: KrCh
doi: 10.1111/ele.13458
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '000507515900001'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 0cd8be386fa219db02845b7c3991ce04
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
date_updated: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
file_id: '8776'
file_name: 2020_EcologyLetters_Milutinovic.pdf
file_size: 561749
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 23'
isi: 1
issue: '3'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 565-574
project:
- _id: 25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: FP7
grant_number: '291734'
name: International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme
- _id: 25DAF0B2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
grant_number: CR-118/3-1
name: Host-Parasite Coevolution
publication: Ecology Letters
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1461-0248
issn:
- 1461-023X
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
link:
- description: News on IST Homepage
relation: press_release
url: https://ist.ac.at/en/news/social-ants-shapes-disease-outcome/
record:
- id: '13060'
relation: research_data
status: public
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by_nc.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
short: CC BY-NC (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 23
year: '2020'
...
---
_id: '13060'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Coinfections with multiple pathogens can result in complex within-host dynamics
affecting virulence and transmission. Whilst multiple infections are intensively
studied in solitary hosts, it is so far unresolved how social host interactions
interfere with pathogen competition, and if this depends on coinfection diversity.
We studied how the collective disease defenses of ants – their social immunity
– influence pathogen competition in coinfections of same or different fungal
pathogen species. Social immunity reduced virulence for all pathogen combinations,
but interfered with spore production only in different-species coinfections. Here,
it decreased overall pathogen sporulation success, whilst simultaneously increasing
co-sporulation on individual cadavers and maintaining a higher pathogen diversity
at the community-level. Mathematical modeling revealed that host sanitary care
alone can modulate competitive outcomes between pathogens, giving advantage to
fast-germinating, thus less grooming-sensitive ones. Host social interactions
can hence modulate infection dynamics in coinfected group members, thereby altering
pathogen communities at the host- and population-level.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Barbara
full_name: Milutinovic, Barbara
id: 2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Milutinovic
orcid: 0000-0002-8214-4758
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
- first_name: Anna V
full_name: Grasse, Anna V
id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Elisabeth
full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Hilbe, Christian
id: 2FDF8F3C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Hilbe
orcid: 0000-0001-5116-955X
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. Social
immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. 2020. doi:10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318
apa: Milutinovic, B., Stock, M., Grasse, A. V., Naderlinger, E., Hilbe, C., &
Cremer, S. (2020). Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.
Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318
chicago: Milutinovic, Barbara, Miriam Stock, Anna V Grasse, Elisabeth Naderlinger,
Christian Hilbe, and Sylvia Cremer. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
Coinfecting Pathogens.” Dryad, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318.
ieee: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A. V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, and S. Cremer,
“Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.” Dryad,
2020.
ista: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. 2020.
Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens, Dryad, 10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318.
mla: Milutinovic, Barbara, et al. Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
Coinfecting Pathogens. Dryad, 2020, doi:10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318.
short: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A.V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, S. Cremer,
(2020).
date_created: 2023-05-23T16:11:22Z
date_published: 2020-12-19T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-05T16:04:48Z
day: '19'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
- _id: KrCh
doi: 10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318
license: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn318
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publisher: Dryad
related_material:
record:
- id: '7343'
relation: used_in_publication
status: public
status: public
title: Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens
tmp:
image: /images/cc_0.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0)
short: CC0 (1.0)
type: research_data_reference
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2020'
...
---
_id: '1404'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: "The co-evolution of hosts and pathogens is characterized by continuous adaptations
of both parties. Pathogens of social insects need to adapt towards disease defences
at two levels: 1) individual immunity of each colony member consisting of behavioural
defence strategies as well as humoral and cellular immune responses and 2) social
immunity that is collectively performed by all group members comprising behavioural,
physiological and organisational defence strategies.\r\n\r\nTo disentangle the
selection pressure on pathogens by the collective versus individual level of disease
defence in social insects, we performed an evolution experiment using the Argentine
Ant, Linepithema humile, as a host and a mixture of the general insect pathogenic
fungus Metarhizium spp. (6 strains) as a pathogen. We allowed pathogen evolution
over 10 serial host passages to two different evolution host treatments: (1) only
individual host immunity in a single host treatment, and (2) simultaneously acting
individual and social immunity in a social host treatment, in which an exposed
ant was accompanied by two untreated nestmates.\r\n\r\nBefore starting the pathogen
evolution experiment, the 6 Metarhizium spp. strains were characterised concerning
conidiospore size killing rates in singly and socially reared ants, their competitiveness
under coinfecting conditions and their influence on ant behaviour. We analysed
how the ancestral atrain mixture changed in conidiospere size, killing rate and
strain composition dependent on host treatment (single or social hosts) during
10 passages and found that killing rate and conidiospere size of the pathogen
increased under both evolution regimes, but different depending on host treatment.\r\n\r\nTesting
the evolved strain mixtures that evolved under either the single or social host
treatment under both single and social current rearing conditions in a full factorial
design experiment revealed that the additional collective defences in insect societies
add new selection pressure for their coevolving pathogens that compromise their
ability to adapt to its host at the group level. To our knowledge, this is the
first study directly measuring the influence of social immunity on pathogen evolution."
acknowledgement: This work was funded by the DFG and the ERC.
alternative_title:
- IST Austria Thesis
author:
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
citation:
ama: Stock M. Evolution of a fungal pathogen towards individual versus social immunity
in ants. 2014.
apa: Stock, M. (2014). Evolution of a fungal pathogen towards individual versus
social immunity in ants. IST Austria.
chicago: Stock, Miriam. “Evolution of a Fungal Pathogen towards Individual versus
Social Immunity in Ants.” IST Austria, 2014.
ieee: M. Stock, “Evolution of a fungal pathogen towards individual versus social
immunity in ants,” IST Austria, 2014.
ista: Stock M. 2014. Evolution of a fungal pathogen towards individual versus social
immunity in ants. IST Austria.
mla: Stock, Miriam. Evolution of a Fungal Pathogen towards Individual versus
Social Immunity in Ants. IST Austria, 2014.
short: M. Stock, Evolution of a Fungal Pathogen towards Individual versus Social
Immunity in Ants, IST Austria, 2014.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:51:49Z
date_published: 2014-04-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2021-01-12T06:50:30Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: SyCr
language:
- iso: eng
month: '04'
oa_version: None
page: '101'
publication_status: published
publisher: IST Austria
publist_id: '5803'
status: public
supervisor:
- first_name: Sylvia M
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia M
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
title: Evolution of a fungal pathogen towards individual versus social immunity in
ants
type: dissertation
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2014'
...
---
_id: '3242'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Due to the omnipresent risk of epidemics, insect societies have evolved sophisticated
disease defences at the individual and colony level. An intriguing yet little
understood phenomenon is that social contact to pathogen-exposed individuals reduces
susceptibility of previously naive nestmates to this pathogen. We tested whether
such social immunisation in Lasius ants against the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium
anisopliae is based on active upregulation of the immune system of nestmates following
contact to an infectious individual or passive protection via transfer of immune
effectors among group members—that is, active versus passive immunisation. We
found no evidence for involvement of passive immunisation via transfer of antimicrobials
among colony members. Instead, intensive allogrooming behaviour between naive
and pathogen-exposed ants before fungal conidia firmly attached to their cuticle
suggested passage of the pathogen from the exposed individuals to their nestmates.
By tracing fluorescence-labelled conidia we indeed detected frequent pathogen
transfer to the nestmates, where they caused low-level infections as revealed
by growth of small numbers of fungal colony forming units from their dissected
body content. These infections rarely led to death, but instead promoted an enhanced
ability to inhibit fungal growth and an active upregulation of immune genes involved
in antifungal defences (defensin and prophenoloxidase, PPO). Contrarily, there
was no upregulation of the gene cathepsin L, which is associated with antibacterial
and antiviral defences, and we found no increased antibacterial activity of nestmates
of fungus-exposed ants. This indicates that social immunisation after fungal exposure
is specific, similar to recent findings for individual-level immune priming in
invertebrates. Epidemiological modeling further suggests that active social immunisation
is adaptive, as it leads to faster elimination of the disease and lower death
rates than passive immunisation. Interestingly, humans have also utilised the
protective effect of low-level infections to fight smallpox by intentional transfer
of low pathogen doses (“variolation” or “inoculation”).
acknowledgement: Funding for this project was obtained by the German Research Foundation
DFG (http://www.dfg.de/en/index.jsp) as an Individual Research Grant (CR118/2-1
to SC) and the European Research Council (http://erc.europa.eu/) in form of two
ERC Starting Grants (ERC-2009-StG240371-SocialVaccines to SC and ERC-2010-StG259294-LatentCauses
to FJT). In addition, the Junge Akademie (Young Academy of the Berlin-Brandenburg
Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
(http://www.diejungeakademie.de/english/index.html) funded this joint Antnet project
of SC and FJT. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis,
decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
article_number: e1001300
author:
- first_name: Matthias
full_name: Konrad, Matthias
id: 46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Konrad
- first_name: Meghan
full_name: Vyleta, Meghan
id: 418901AA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Vyleta
- first_name: Fabian
full_name: Theis, Fabian
last_name: Theis
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
- first_name: Simon
full_name: Tragust, Simon
id: 35A7A418-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Tragust
- first_name: Martina
full_name: Klatt, Martina
id: E60F29C6-E9AE-11E9-AF6E-D190C7302F38
last_name: Klatt
- first_name: Verena
full_name: Drescher, Verena
last_name: Drescher
- first_name: Carsten
full_name: Marr, Carsten
last_name: Marr
- first_name: Line V
full_name: Ugelvig, Line V
id: 3DC97C8E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Ugelvig
orcid: 0000-0003-1832-8883
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: Konrad M, Vyleta M, Theis F, et al. Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes
active immunisation in ant colonies. PLoS Biology. 2012;10(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300
apa: Konrad, M., Vyleta, M., Theis, F., Stock, M., Tragust, S., Klatt, M., … Cremer,
S. (2012). Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active immunisation in
ant colonies. PLoS Biology. Public Library of Science. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300
chicago: Konrad, Matthias, Meghan Vyleta, Fabian Theis, Miriam Stock, Simon Tragust,
Martina Klatt, Verena Drescher, Carsten Marr, Line V Ugelvig, and Sylvia Cremer.
“Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies.”
PLoS Biology. Public Library of Science, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300.
ieee: M. Konrad et al., “Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active
immunisation in ant colonies,” PLoS Biology, vol. 10, no. 4. Public Library
of Science, 2012.
ista: Konrad M, Vyleta M, Theis F, Stock M, Tragust S, Klatt M, Drescher V, Marr
C, Ugelvig LV, Cremer S. 2012. Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active
immunisation in ant colonies. PLoS Biology. 10(4), e1001300.
mla: Konrad, Matthias, et al. “Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active
Immunisation in Ant Colonies.” PLoS Biology, vol. 10, no. 4, e1001300,
Public Library of Science, 2012, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300.
short: M. Konrad, M. Vyleta, F. Theis, M. Stock, S. Tragust, M. Klatt, V. Drescher,
C. Marr, L.V. Ugelvig, S. Cremer, PLoS Biology 10 (2012).
date_created: 2018-12-11T12:02:13Z
date_published: 2012-04-03T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-02-23T14:07:11Z
day: '03'
ddc:
- '570'
- '579'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300
ec_funded: 1
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intvolume: ' 10'
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language:
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month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
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grant_number: CR-118/3-1
name: Host-Parasite Coevolution
- _id: 25DC711C-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: FP7
grant_number: '243071'
name: 'Social Vaccination in Ant Colonies: from Individual Mechanisms to Society
Effects'
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publication: PLoS Biology
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publisher: Public Library of Science
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related_material:
record:
- id: '9755'
relation: research_data
status: public
scopus_import: 1
status: public
title: Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active immunisation in ant colonies
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 10
year: '2012'
...
---
_id: '9755'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Due to the omnipresent risk of epidemics, insect societies have evolved sophisticated
disease defences at the individual and colony level. An intriguing yet little
understood phenomenon is that social contact to pathogen-exposed individuals reduces
susceptibility of previously naive nestmates to this pathogen. We tested whether
such social immunisation in Lasius ants against the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium
anisopliae is based on active upregulation of the immune system of nestmates following
contact to an infectious individual or passive protection via transfer of immune
effectors among group members—that is, active versus passive immunisation. We
found no evidence for involvement of passive immunisation via transfer of antimicrobials
among colony members. Instead, intensive allogrooming behaviour between naive
and pathogen-exposed ants before fungal conidia firmly attached to their cuticle
suggested passage of the pathogen from the exposed individuals to their nestmates.
By tracing fluorescence-labelled conidia we indeed detected frequent pathogen
transfer to the nestmates, where they caused low-level infections as revealed
by growth of small numbers of fungal colony forming units from their dissected
body content. These infections rarely led to death, but instead promoted an enhanced
ability to inhibit fungal growth and an active upregulation of immune genes involved
in antifungal defences (defensin and prophenoloxidase, PPO). Contrarily, there
was no upregulation of the gene cathepsin L, which is associated with antibacterial
and antiviral defences, and we found no increased antibacterial activity of nestmates
of fungus-exposed ants. This indicates that social immunisation after fungal exposure
is specific, similar to recent findings for individual-level immune priming in
invertebrates. Epidemiological modeling further suggests that active social immunisation
is adaptive, as it leads to faster elimination of the disease and lower death
rates than passive immunisation. Interestingly, humans have also utilised the
protective effect of low-level infections to fight smallpox by intentional transfer
of low pathogen doses (“variolation” or “inoculation”).
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Matthias
full_name: Konrad, Matthias
id: 46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Konrad
- first_name: Meghan
full_name: Vyleta, Meghan
id: 418901AA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Vyleta
- first_name: Fabian
full_name: Theis, Fabian
last_name: Theis
- first_name: Miriam
full_name: Stock, Miriam
id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Stock
- first_name: Martina
full_name: Klatt, Martina
id: E60F29C6-E9AE-11E9-AF6E-D190C7302F38
last_name: Klatt
- first_name: Verena
full_name: Drescher, Verena
last_name: Drescher
- first_name: Carsten
full_name: Marr, Carsten
last_name: Marr
- first_name: Line V
full_name: Ugelvig, Line V
id: 3DC97C8E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Ugelvig
orcid: 0000-0003-1832-8883
- first_name: Sylvia
full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Cremer
orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
ama: 'Konrad M, Vyleta M, Theis F, et al. Data from: Social transfer of pathogenic
fungus promotes active immunisation in ant colonies. 2012. doi:10.5061/dryad.sv37s'
apa: 'Konrad, M., Vyleta, M., Theis, F., Stock, M., Klatt, M., Drescher, V., … Cremer,
S. (2012). Data from: Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active immunisation
in ant colonies. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sv37s'
chicago: 'Konrad, Matthias, Meghan Vyleta, Fabian Theis, Miriam Stock, Martina Klatt,
Verena Drescher, Carsten Marr, Line V Ugelvig, and Sylvia Cremer. “Data from:
Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies.”
Dryad, 2012. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sv37s.'
ieee: 'M. Konrad et al., “Data from: Social transfer of pathogenic fungus
promotes active immunisation in ant colonies.” Dryad, 2012.'
ista: 'Konrad M, Vyleta M, Theis F, Stock M, Klatt M, Drescher V, Marr C, Ugelvig
LV, Cremer S. 2012. Data from: Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active
immunisation in ant colonies, Dryad, 10.5061/dryad.sv37s.'
mla: 'Konrad, Matthias, et al. Data from: Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus
Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies. Dryad, 2012, doi:10.5061/dryad.sv37s.'
short: M. Konrad, M. Vyleta, F. Theis, M. Stock, M. Klatt, V. Drescher, C. Marr,
L.V. Ugelvig, S. Cremer, (2012).
date_created: 2021-07-30T08:39:13Z
date_published: 2012-09-27T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-02-23T11:18:41Z
day: '27'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.5061/dryad.sv37s
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sv37s
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publisher: Dryad
related_material:
record:
- id: '3242'
relation: used_in_publication
status: public
status: public
title: 'Data from: Social transfer of pathogenic fungus promotes active immunisation
in ant colonies'
type: research_data_reference
user_id: 6785fbc1-c503-11eb-8a32-93094b40e1cf
year: '2012'
...