Infection with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis reduces salamander capacity to mount a cell-mediated immune response
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Venesky, Matthew D.
Laskey, Corey A.
Date Issued
April 7, 2022
Abstract
The vertebrate immune system is a costly defense system that is responsible for preventing and eliminating parasites and pathogens. Theory predicts that hosts experience tradeoffs associated with immune deployment and other physiological functions. Although empirical evidence for immune-physiology tradeoffs are well documented in the literature, fewer studies have examined tradeoffs within the immune system in wild vertebrates. We explored the topic of concomitant immune challenges in amphibians by exposing salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to a fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (hereafter Bd) and then to phytohemagglutinin (hereafter PHA). We measured Bd infection using quantitative PCR and used measurements of the tail thickness at the PHA injection site as an estimate of skin swelling. We tested whether Bd reduced the salamander's capacity to mount an immune response towards PHA or whether Bd would stimulate immune activity and thereby increase the response towards PHA. Salamanders that were infected with Bd had a reduced skin-swelling when injected with PHA compared to noninfected salamanders, a result that is consistent with the hypothesis that Bd-infected salamanders have lower immunocompetence than noninfected salamanders. We also found that PHA-induced swelling response was negatively associated with Bd infection abundance (i.e., the infection burden of all exposed salamanders, including those that were exposed but not infected), indicating that salamanders with a higher infection abundance had the lowest swelling response to PHA. Our results suggest that individuals of P. cinereus might experience an energetic tradeoff between successfully fighting off Bd and mounting an immune response towards PHA.
Journal
Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A-Ecological and Integrative Physiology
Department
Biology
Citation
Venesky, M. D., Laskey, C. A. (2022). Infection with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis reduces salamander capacity to mount a cell-mediated immune response. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology, 337, 273-281. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.2497
Publisher
Wiley
DOI
10.1002/jez.2497
ISSN
2471-5638
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