Dietary-dependent trans-generational immune priming in an insect herbivore

Trans-generational effects on immunity are well known in vertebrates and are considered in many evolutionary and ecological theories of species interaction. Maternal effects have been identified to be of special importance, and are now recognized as a mechanism for adaptive phenotypic response to en...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2009-07, Vol.276 (1667), p.2617-2624
Main Authors: Freitak, Dalial, Heckel, David G., Vogel, Heiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria
Brassica
Diet
Female
Genes
Hemolymph
Herbivores
Immune response
Immunity, Maternally-Acquired - physiology
Innate Immunity
Insect genetics
Insect Herbivore
Insect larvae
Larva - immunology
Larvae
Maternal Effects
Moths - immunology
Phytophagous insects
Trans-Generational Priming
Trichoplusia ni
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Summary:Trans-generational effects on immunity are well known in vertebrates and are considered in many evolutionary and ecological theories of species interaction. Maternal effects have been identified to be of special importance, and are now recognized as a mechanism for adaptive phenotypic response to environmental heterogeneity. We have previously shown that exposure to dietary non-pathogenic bacteria can induce several aspects of immune response in an insect herbivore, the cabbage semilooper (Trichoplusia ni). Here, we test the effects of this exposure on the immune status of the next generation, measuring immune parameters on three different levels-enzyme activities, protein expression and transcript abundance. We also monitored fitness-related traits which are often negatively correlated with increased immunocompetence. We found evidence for trans-generational priming on all these levels, with immune system parameters that are clearly not transmitted in a 1 : 1 ratio from parent to offspring, but rather in a complex manner with a strong but not exclusive maternal component. These findings indicate that trans-generational priming is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, potentially playing a role as a long-term but non-genetic mode of environmental adaptation.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2009.0323