Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, PO Box 65, Viikinkaari 1, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, United Kingdom.
J Insect Physiol. 2018 May-Jun;107:136-143. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2018.03.009. Epub 2018 Apr 5.
Infections represent a constant threat for organisms and can lead to substantial fitness losses. Understanding how individuals, especially from natural populations, respond towards infections is thus of great importance. Little is known about immunity in the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia). As the larvae live gregariously in family groups, vertical and horizontal transmission of infections could have tremendous effects on individuals and consequently impact population dynamics in nature. We used the Alphabaculovirus type strain Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and demonstrated that positive concentration-dependent baculovirus exposure leads to prolonged developmental time and decreased survival during larval and pupal development, with no sex specific differences. Viral exposure did not influence relative thorax mass or wing morphometric traits often related to flight ability, yet melanisation of the wings increased with viral exposure, potentially influencing disease resistance or flight capacity via thermal regulation. Further research is needed to explore effects under sub-optimal conditions, determine effects on fitness-related traits, and investigate a potential adaptive response of increased melanisation in the wings due to baculovirus exposure.
感染是生物体面临的持续威胁，可能导致大量的适应度损失。因此，了解个体，特别是自然种群中的个体对感染的反应非常重要。关于格纹蛱蝶（Melitaea cinxia）的免疫机制知之甚少。由于幼虫成群生活在家庭群体中，垂直和水平传播的感染可能对个体产生巨大影响，并进而影响自然种群的动态。我们使用了 Alphabaculovirus 型菌株苜蓿银纹夜蛾多核多角体病毒（AcMNPV），并证明了阳性浓度依赖性杆状病毒暴露会导致幼虫和蛹发育期间发育时间延长和存活率降低，且不存在性别特异性差异。病毒暴露不会影响通常与飞行能力相关的相对胸部质量或翅膀形态特征，但翅膀的黑化随着病毒暴露而增加，可能通过热调节影响疾病抵抗力或飞行能力。需要进一步的研究来探索在亚最佳条件下的影响，确定对与适应度相关的特征的影响，并研究由于杆状病毒暴露而导致翅膀黑化增加的潜在适应性反应。
