Present address: Leibniz Institut für Meereswissenschaften IFM-GEOMAR, Evolutionary Ecology, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, DE-24105 Kiel, Germany
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Paternally derived immune priming for offspring in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum
Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01617.x
© 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 British Ecological Society
Additional Information
How to Cite
Roth, O., Joop, G., Eggert, H., Hilbert, J., Daniel, J., Schmid-Hempel, P. and Kurtz, J. (2010), Paternally derived immune priming for offspring in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Journal of Animal Ecology, 79: 403–413. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01617.x
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Present address: Leibniz Institut für Meereswissenschaften IFM-GEOMAR, Evolutionary Ecology, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, DE-24105 Kiel, Germany
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Authors contributed equally
Publication History
- Issue published online: 5 FEB 2010
- Article first published online: 14 OCT 2009
- Received 6 July 2009; accepted 21 August 2009 Handling Editor: Mike Boots
Corrected by:
Vol. 79, Issue 3, 722, Article first published online: 22 MAR 2010
- Abstract
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Keywords:
- host–parasite interaction;
- immune defence;
- insect;
- parental effects;
- trans-generational
Summary
1. Parasitized females in mammals, fish and birds can enhance the immune defence of their offspring by transferring specific antibodies for the embryo. Likewise, social insect mothers transfer immunity despite the fact that invertebrates lack antibodies.
2. Female trans-generational immune priming is consistent with parental investment theory, because mothers invest more into rearing their offspring than fathers. However, when immune priming is not directly linked to parental care, as is often the case in insects that abandon their eggs after oviposition, both sexes might benefit from protecting their offspring.
3. Using the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, we show that after parental exposure to heat-killed bacteria, trans-generational immune priming occurs through fathers as well as mothers.
4. This novel finding challenges the traditional view that males provide only genes to their offspring in species without paternal care, and raises the possibility of a division of tasks with respect to immune protection between parents.