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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 usingimmune defenses could itself reduce host fitness. This indirectcost of
parasitism is often not visible because of compensatoryresource
intake. Here, workers of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris,were challenged with lipopolysaccharides and micro-latex beadsto induce their immune system under starvation (i.e., not allowingcompensatory intake). Compared with controls, survival of inducedworkers 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
The editors suggest the following Related Resources on Science sites:
In Science Magazine
LETTERS
Graham M. Lord, Giuseppe Matarese, Jane K. Howard, Yannick Moret, and Paul Schmid-Hempel (4 May 2001) Science292 (5518), 855.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.292.5518.855] |Full Text »
PERSPECTIVES
Andrew F. Read and Judith E. Allen (10 November 2000) Science290 (5494), 1104.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5494.1104] |Summary »|Full Text »
REPORTS
Charles L. Nunn, John L. Gittleman, and Janis Antonovics (10 November 2000) Science290 (5494), 1168.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5494.1168] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
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