Premium
Interactive effects of social environment, age and sex on immune responses in Drosophila melanogaster
Author(s) -
Leech Thomas,
Evison Sophie E. F.,
Armitage Sophie A. O.,
Sait Steven M.,
Bretman Amanda
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/jeb.13509
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , immune system , affect (linguistics) , melanogaster , ageing , drosophila (subgenus) , social relation , immunity , social contact , immunology , downregulation and upregulation , gene expression , gene , genetics , developmental psychology , social psychology , communication , psychology
Social environments have been shown to have multiple effects on individual immune responses. For example, increased social contact might signal greater infection risk and prompt a prophylactic upregulation of immunity. This differential investment of resources may in part explain why social environments affect ageing and lifespan. Our previous work using Drosophila melanogaster showed that single‐sex social contact reduced lifespan for both sexes. Here, we assess how social interactions (isolation or contact) affect susceptibility to infection, phagocytotic activity and expression of a subset of immune‐ and stress‐related genes in young and old flies of both sexes. Social contact had a neutral, or even improved, effect on post‐infection lifespan in older flies and reduced the expression of stress response genes in females; however, it reduced phagocytotic activity. Overall, the effects of social environment were complex and largely subtle and do not indicate a consistent effect. Together, these findings indicate that social contact in D. melanogaster does not have a predictable impact on immune responses and does not simply trade‐off immune investment with lifespan.