Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.


Science 10 November 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5494, pp. 1166 - 1168
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5494.1166

Reports

Survival for Immunity: The Price of Immune System Activation for Bumblebee Workers

Yannick Moret,* Paul Schmid-Hempel

Parasites do not always harm their hosts because the immune system keeps an infection at bay. Ironically, the cost of using immune defenses could itself reduce host fitness. This indirect cost of parasitism is often not visible because of compensatory resource intake. Here, workers of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, were challenged with lipopolysaccharides and micro-latex beads to induce their immune system under starvation (i.e., not allowing compensatory intake). Compared with controls, survival of induced workers was significantly reduced (by 50 to 70%).

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, Experimental Ecology, ETH-Zentrum, NW, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: moret{at}eco.umnw.ethz.ch


Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A distinct infection cost associated with trans-generational priming of antibacterial immunity in bumble-bees.
B. M. Sadd and P. Schmid-Hempel (2009)
Biol Lett 5, 798-801
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid induction of immune density-dependent prophylaxis in adult social insects.
M. X. Ruiz-Gonzalez, Y. Moret, and M. J. F. Brown (2009)
Biol Lett 5, 781-783
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Infection by a symbiotic polydnavirus induces wasting and inhibits metamorphosis of the moth Pseudoplusia includens.
A. J. Pruijssers, P. Falabella, J. H. Eum, F. Pennacchio, M. R. Brown, and M. R. Strand (2009)
J. Exp. Biol. 212, 2998-3006
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ecological immunology: The organism in context.
S. S. French, M. C. Moore, and G. E. Demas (2009)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 49, 246-253
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Vertebrate sickness behaviors: Adaptive and integrated neuroendocrine immune responses.
J. S. Adelman and L. B. Martin (2009)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 49, 202-214
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Effects of corticosterone on innate and humoral immune functions and oxidative stress in barn owl nestlings.
K. S. Stier, B. Almasi, J. Gasparini, R. Piault, A. Roulin, and L. Jenni (2009)
J. Exp. Biol. 212, 2085-2091
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sex-specific variation in the emphasis, inducibility and timing of the post-mating immune response in Drosophila melanogaster.
W. E Winterhalter and K. M Fedorka (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 1109-1117
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
No evidence for an evolutionary trade-off between learning and immunity in a social insect.
A Alghamdi, N.E Raine, E Rosato, and E.B Mallon (2009)
Biol Lett 5, 55-57
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ethnic variability in adiposity and cardiovascular risk: the variable disease selection hypothesis.
J. C K Wells (2009)
Int. J. Epidemiol. 38, 63-71
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Immunity in a variable world.
B. P Lazzaro and T. J Little (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 15-26
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A high-mobility, low-cost phenotype defines human effector-memory CD8+ T cells.
G. Zenhaeusern, P. Gubser, P. Eisele, O. Gasser, A. Steinhuber, A. Trampuz, C. Handschin, A. D. Luster, and C. Hess (2009)
Blood 113, 95-99
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Immune response impairs learning in free-flying bumble-bees.
A Alghamdi, L Dalton, A Phillis, E Rosato, and E.B Mallon (2008)
Biol Lett 4, 479-481
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Impact of Dissociation on Transposon-Mediated Disease Control Strategies.
J. M. Marshall (2008)
Genetics 178, 1673-1682
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Parasitic castration: a perspective from a model of dynamic energy budgets.
S. R. Hall, C. Becker, and C. E. Caceres (2007)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 47, 295-309
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Is there a role for antioxidant carotenoids in limiting self-harming immune response in invertebrates?.
S. Cornet, C. Biard, and Y. Moret (2007)
Biol Lett 3, 284-288
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionary ecology of immune defence in copepods.
J. Kurtz (2007)
J. Plankton Res. 29, i27-i38
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Immune system activation affects male sexual signal and reproductive potential in crickets.
K. M. Fedorka and T. A. Mousseau (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 231-235
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Linking immune defenses and life history at the levels of the individual and the species.
K. A. Lee (2006)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 46, 1000-1015
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Antioxidant protection, carotenoids and the costs of immune challenge in greenfinches.
P. Horak, M. Zilmer, L. Saks, I. Ots, U. Karu, and K. Zilmer (2006)
J. Exp. Biol. 209, 4329-4338
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Losing the last feather: feather loss as an antipredator adaptation in birds.
A. P. Moller, J. T. Nielsen, and J. Erritzoe (2006)
Behav. Ecol. 17, 1046-1056
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Self-harm caused by an insect's innate immunity.
B. M Sadd and M. T Siva-Jothy (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 2571-2574
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
'Trans-generational immune priming': specific enhancement of the antimicrobial immune response in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor.
Y. Moret (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1399-1405
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
MHC genes and oxidative stress in sticklebacks: an immuno-ecological approach.
J. Kurtz, K. M. Wegner, M. Kalbe, T. B.H Reusch, H. Schaschl, D. Hasselquist, and M. Milinski (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 1407-1414
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Flexible diet choice offsets protein costs of pathogen resistance in a caterpillar.
K.P Lee, J.S Cory, K Wilson, D Raubenheimer, and S.J Simpson (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 823-829
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Malnutrition in the Critically III: Don't Hold the Leptin.
S. Khan and J. K. Kolls (2006)
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 173, 140-141
   Full Text »    PDF »
Age, parasites, and condition affect humoral immune response in tropical pythons.
B. Ujvari and T. Madsen (2006)
Behav. Ecol. 17, 20-24
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Trans-generational immune priming in a social insect.
B. M Sadd, Y. Kleinlogel, R. Schmid-Hempel, and P. Schmid-Hempel (2005)
Biol Lett 1, 386-388
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionary implications of the adaptation to different immune systems in a parasite with a complex life cycle.
K. Hammerschmidt and J. Kurtz (2005)
Proc R Soc B 272, 2511-2518
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Stress, resource allocation, and mortality.
J. M. McNamara and K. L. Buchanan (2005)
Behav. Ecol. 16, 1008-1017
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Costly parasite resistance: a genotype-dependent handicap in sand lizards?.
M. Olsson, E. Wapstra, T. Madsen, B. Ujvari, and C. Rugfelt (2005)
Biol Lett 1, 375-377
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Leptin regulates energetic tradeoffs between body fat and humoural immunity.
G. E Demas and S. Sakaria (2005)
Proc R Soc B 272, 1845-1850
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Impacts of fever on locust life-history traits: costs or benefits?.
S. L Elliot, C. M Horton, S. Blanford, and M. B Thomas (2005)
Biol Lett 1, 181-184
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Costly Resistance to Parasitism: Evidence From Simultaneous Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping for Resistance and Fitness in Tribolium castaneum.
D. Zhong, A. Pai, and G. Yan (2005)
Genetics 169, 2127-2135
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Leptin in Immunology.
G. Matarese, S. Moschos, and C. S. Mantzoros (2005)
J. Immunol. 174, 3137-3142
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
How Physiological Methods and Concepts Can Be Useful in Conservation Biology.
C. Carey (2005)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 45, 4-11
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Epigenetic Regulation of Aging in Honeybee Workers.
S. W. Omholt and G. V. Amdam (2004)
Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ. 2004, pe28
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Peripubertal Immune Challenges Attenuate Reproductive Development in Male Siberian Hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).
B. J. Prendergast, A. K. Hotchkiss, S. D. Bilbo, and R. J. Nelson (2004)
Biol Reprod 70, 813-820
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Photoperiod Influences the Effects of Exercise and Food Restriction on an Antigen-Specific Immune Response in Siberian Hamsters.
S. D. Bilbo and R. J. Nelson (2004)
Endocrinology 145, 556-564
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Immunocompetence and resource holding potential in the damselfly, Calopteryx virgo L.
J. Koskimaki, M. J. Rantala, J. Taskinen, K. Tynkkynen, and J. Suhonen (2004)
Behav. Ecol. 15, 169-173
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Invertebrate Ecological Immunology.
J. Rolff and M. T. Siva-Jothy (2003)
Science 301, 472-475
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamics of Molecular Markers Linked to the Resistance Loci in a Mosquito-Plasmodium System.
G. Yan and D. W. Severson (2003)
Genetics 164, 511-519
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Melatonin Regulates Energy Balance and Attenuates Fever in Siberian Hamsters.
S. D. Bilbo and R. J. Nelson (2002)
Endocrinology 143, 2527-2533
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The development of immunity in a social insect: Evidence for the group facilitation of disease resistance.
J. F. A. Traniello, R. B. Rosengaus, and K. Savoie (2002)
PNAS 99, 6838-6842
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Density-dependent competition and selection on immune function in genetic lizard morphs.
E. Svensson, B. Sinervo, and T. Comendant (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Serum Leptin Levels in Wild and Captive Populations of Baboons (Papio): Implications for the Ancestral Role of Leptin.
W. A. Banks, J. E. Phillips-Conroy, C. J. Jolly, and J. E. Morley (2001)
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86, 4315-4320
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Leptin Effects on Immune Function and Energy Balance Are Photoperiod Dependent in Siberian Hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).
D. L. Drazen, G. E. Demas, and R. J. Nelson (2001)
Endocrinology 142, 2768-2775
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Increased sexual activity reduces male immune function in Drosophila melanogaster.
K. A. McKean and L. Nunney (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Increased sexual activity reduces male immune function in Drosophila melanogaster.
K. A. McKean and L. Nunney (2001)
PNAS 98, 7904-7909
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Density-dependent competition and selection on immune function in genetic lizard morphs.
E. Svensson, B. Sinervo, and T. Comendant (2001)
PNAS 98, 12561-12565
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »



To Advertise     Find Products


Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)