Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Contrasting adaptive immune defenses and blood parasite prevalence in closely related Passer sparrows

Lee, KA ; Martin, LB ; Hasselquist, Dennis LU ; Ricklefs, RE and Wikelski, L (2006) In Oecologia 150(3). p.383-392
Abstract
Immune system components differ in their functions and costs, and immune defense profiles are likely to vary among species with differing ecologies. We compared adaptive immune defenses in two closely related species that have contrasting inflammatory immune responses, the widespread and abundant house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the less abundant tree sparrow (Passer montanus). We found that the house sparrow, which we have previously shown mounts weaker inflammatory responses, exhibits stronger adaptive immune defenses, including antibody responses, natural antibody titers, and specific T-cell memory, than the tree sparrow. Conversely, tree sparrows, which mount strong inflammatory responses, also mount stronger nonspecific... (More)
Immune system components differ in their functions and costs, and immune defense profiles are likely to vary among species with differing ecologies. We compared adaptive immune defenses in two closely related species that have contrasting inflammatory immune responses, the widespread and abundant house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the less abundant tree sparrow (Passer montanus). We found that the house sparrow, which we have previously shown mounts weaker inflammatory responses, exhibits stronger adaptive immune defenses, including antibody responses, natural antibody titers, and specific T-cell memory, than the tree sparrow. Conversely, tree sparrows, which mount strong inflammatory responses, also mount stronger nonspecific inflammatory T-cell responses but weaker specific adaptive responses. Prevalence of avian malaria parasite infections, which are controlled by adaptive immune defenses, was higher in the geographically restricted tree sparrow than in the ubiquitous house sparrow. Together these data describe distinct immune defense profiles between two closely related species that differ greatly in numbers and distributions. We suggest that these immunological differences could affect fitness in ways that contribute to the contrasting abundances of the two species in North American and Western Europe. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Oecologia
volume
150
issue
3
pages
383 - 392
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000242060700004
  • scopus:33750951220
ISSN
1432-1939
DOI
10.1007/s00442-006-0537-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2a466273-3e8a-43b9-a124-9f2674d37814 (old id 163685)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:41:15
date last changed
2024-01-07 16:41:02
@article{2a466273-3e8a-43b9-a124-9f2674d37814,
  abstract     = {{Immune system components differ in their functions and costs, and immune defense profiles are likely to vary among species with differing ecologies. We compared adaptive immune defenses in two closely related species that have contrasting inflammatory immune responses, the widespread and abundant house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the less abundant tree sparrow (Passer montanus). We found that the house sparrow, which we have previously shown mounts weaker inflammatory responses, exhibits stronger adaptive immune defenses, including antibody responses, natural antibody titers, and specific T-cell memory, than the tree sparrow. Conversely, tree sparrows, which mount strong inflammatory responses, also mount stronger nonspecific inflammatory T-cell responses but weaker specific adaptive responses. Prevalence of avian malaria parasite infections, which are controlled by adaptive immune defenses, was higher in the geographically restricted tree sparrow than in the ubiquitous house sparrow. Together these data describe distinct immune defense profiles between two closely related species that differ greatly in numbers and distributions. We suggest that these immunological differences could affect fitness in ways that contribute to the contrasting abundances of the two species in North American and Western Europe.}},
  author       = {{Lee, KA and Martin, LB and Hasselquist, Dennis and Ricklefs, RE and Wikelski, L}},
  issn         = {{1432-1939}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{383--392}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Oecologia}},
  title        = {{Contrasting adaptive immune defenses and blood parasite prevalence in closely related Passer sparrows}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0537-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00442-006-0537-6}},
  volume       = {{150}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}