Lattorff H Michael G
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät I, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, 06099 Halle (Saale), Germany.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2020 Mar 20;9(3):130. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics9030130.
Group living at high densities may result in the enhanced transmission of pathogens. Social insects are obligate group-living species, which often also exhibit high relatedness and frequent social interactions amongst individuals, resulting in a high risk of disease spread. Social species seem to exhibit immune systems that provide colonies of social insects with a certain level of flexibility for adjustment of immune activity according to the risk of disease spread. In bumblebees, , it was demonstrated that in group-kept individuals, immune component activity and immune gene expression is increased, potentially as a prophylactic adaptation. Here, I tested whether social environment influences the gene expression pattern of two genes, which are components of the antimicrobial response of the bumblebee. In addition, I tested gene expression activation in different tissues (gut, fat body). The analysis revealed that the gene, the density of individuals, the tissue, and the interaction of the latter are the main factors that influence the expression of genes. This is the first report of a tissue-specific response towards the social environment. This has implications for gene regulation, which must be responsive to social context-dependent information.
高密度群居可能会导致病原体传播加剧。社会性昆虫是 obligate 群居物种，其个体之间往往还表现出高度的亲缘关系和频繁的社会互动，从而导致疾病传播风险很高。社会性物种似乎具有免疫系统，能为社会性昆虫群体提供一定程度的灵活性，以便根据疾病传播风险调整免疫活动。在大黄蜂中，已证明在群体饲养的个体中，免疫成分活性和免疫基因表达会增加，这可能是一种预防性适应。在此，我测试了社会环境是否会影响大黄蜂抗菌反应的两个基因的基因表达模式。此外，我还测试了不同组织（肠道、脂肪体）中的基因表达激活情况。分析表明，基因、个体密度、组织以及后两者的相互作用是影响基因表达的主要因素。这是关于对社会环境的组织特异性反应的首次报告。这对基因调控具有启示意义，基因调控必须对依赖于社会背景的信息做出反应。 （注：“obligate”此处可能是“专性的”之类意思，但原词在语境中含义不太明确）
