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History of predator exposure affects cell-mediated immunity in female eastern fence lizards, Sceloporus undulatus (Squamata : Phrynosomatidae)

Sprayberry, Kristen ; Tylan, Catherine ; Owen, Dustin A.S. ; MacLeod, Kirsty J. LU ; Sheriff, Michael J. and Langkilde, Tracy (2019) In Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 128(4). p.944-951
Abstract

On exposure to stressors, energy is diverted from non-urgent functions towards those important for immediate survival. The degree and nature of reallocation may be affected by the evolutionary history of the animal. The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) coexists in parts of its range with invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), which attack and wound lizards and elevate stress-relevant hormones (corticosterone), whereas other populations have never been exposed to fire ants. We examined how a history of fire ant invasion affected the immune response in female lizards after exposure to exogenous corticosterone (mimicking exposure to a stressor) during gestation (dosing regimens differed among corticosterone-exposed lizards... (More)

On exposure to stressors, energy is diverted from non-urgent functions towards those important for immediate survival. The degree and nature of reallocation may be affected by the evolutionary history of the animal. The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) coexists in parts of its range with invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), which attack and wound lizards and elevate stress-relevant hormones (corticosterone), whereas other populations have never been exposed to fire ants. We examined how a history of fire ant invasion affected the immune response in female lizards after exposure to exogenous corticosterone (mimicking exposure to a stressor) during gestation (dosing regimens differed among corticosterone-exposed lizards owing to the constraints of the original studies, but we found no evidence that this affected the outcome of the present study). A history of exposure to predatory stressors (fire ants) and corticosterone treatment affected cell-mediated immunity. Lizards from fire ant-invaded sites had a reduced immune response compared with those from uninvaded sites. Corticosterone treatment had no effect on the immune response of lizards from invaded sites but reduced the immune response of lizards from uninvaded sites. This suggests that an evolutionary history of exposure to wounding alters the immune response to corticosterone. Future work on how the immune system responds to environmental threats will be informative for the prediction and management of these threats.

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author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
corticosterone, evolutionary history, fence lizards, fire ants, glucocorticoids, immunity, invasive species, phytohaemagglutinin, stress
in
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
volume
128
issue
4
pages
8 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85083876140
ISSN
0024-4066
DOI
10.1093/biolinnean/blz154
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
b30b6ef9-4040-487f-9f48-ed5f6b85166d
date added to LUP
2020-06-04 16:17:03
date last changed
2022-04-18 22:43:41
@article{b30b6ef9-4040-487f-9f48-ed5f6b85166d,
  abstract     = {{<p>On exposure to stressors, energy is diverted from non-urgent functions towards those important for immediate survival. The degree and nature of reallocation may be affected by the evolutionary history of the animal. The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) coexists in parts of its range with invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), which attack and wound lizards and elevate stress-relevant hormones (corticosterone), whereas other populations have never been exposed to fire ants. We examined how a history of fire ant invasion affected the immune response in female lizards after exposure to exogenous corticosterone (mimicking exposure to a stressor) during gestation (dosing regimens differed among corticosterone-exposed lizards owing to the constraints of the original studies, but we found no evidence that this affected the outcome of the present study). A history of exposure to predatory stressors (fire ants) and corticosterone treatment affected cell-mediated immunity. Lizards from fire ant-invaded sites had a reduced immune response compared with those from uninvaded sites. Corticosterone treatment had no effect on the immune response of lizards from invaded sites but reduced the immune response of lizards from uninvaded sites. This suggests that an evolutionary history of exposure to wounding alters the immune response to corticosterone. Future work on how the immune system responds to environmental threats will be informative for the prediction and management of these threats.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sprayberry, Kristen and Tylan, Catherine and Owen, Dustin A.S. and MacLeod, Kirsty J. and Sheriff, Michael J. and Langkilde, Tracy}},
  issn         = {{0024-4066}},
  keywords     = {{corticosterone; evolutionary history; fence lizards; fire ants; glucocorticoids; immunity; invasive species; phytohaemagglutinin; stress}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{944--951}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}},
  title        = {{History of predator exposure affects cell-mediated immunity in female eastern fence lizards, Sceloporus undulatus (Squamata : Phrynosomatidae)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz154}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/biolinnean/blz154}},
  volume       = {{128}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}