0000000000355287
AUTHOR
Vincent Staszewski
Variable exposure and immunological response to Lyme disease Borrelia among North Atlantic seabird species.
Colonial seabirds often breed in large aggregations. These individuals can be exposed to parasitism by the tick Ixodes uriae , but little is known about the circulation of pathogens carried by this ectoparasite, including Lyme disease Borrelia . Here we investigated the prevalence of antibodies (Ab) against Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in seabird species sampled at eight locations across the North Atlantic. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests, we found that the prevalence of anti- Borrelia Ab in adult seabirds was 39.6% on average (over 444 individuals), but that it varied among colonies and species. Common guillemots showed higher seroprevalence (77.1%±5.9) than black-legged …
Acoustic communication in the Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla: potential cues for sexual and individual signatures in long calls
International audience; Sex and individual recognition systems vary among species and can have various functions in different contexts. In order to determine the basis of identification by voice in the Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), the greeting calls of 32 individuals (18 males and 14 females) were recorded in May–June 2004 on the Kittiwake colony of Hornøya island (Barents sea) and analysed. On the basis of coefficient of variation calculations and discriminant analyses, we show (1) that calls are sexually dimorphic and that the dimorphism is mainly based on the value of the fundamental frequency, and (2) that calls are individually distinct, individuality being due to a complex of tempora…
Antibody injection in the egg yolk: maternal antibodies affect humoral immune response of the offspring
Summary 1. In vertebrate species, maternal antibodies specific for the pathogens to which mothers have been exposed can be transmitted to offspring before birth. This is assumed to be adaptive as these antibodies can be essential in protecting offspring early in life before their own immune system is fully developed. However, fitness consequences in natural conditions and the long-term effects of these mechanisms have yet to be fully examined. 2. Exploring the ecological and evolutionary implications of such maternal effects requires experimental manipulations to avoid potential confounding maternal effects. In birds, maternal antibodies are transmitted via the egg yolk – a self contained e…
Maternal transfer of antibodies: raising immuno-ecology issues.
The transfer of antibodies from mother to offspring has broad potential implications in evolutionary ecology, from the adaptive value of maternal effects to the role of transgenerational plasticity in host-parasite interactions. Recent contributions have addressed key issues such as environmental and genetic factors affecting the amount of antibodies transferred and whether maternal antibodies affect offspring immunity, but little is still known about the implications of the maternal transfer of antibodies in natural populations. By its position at the crossroads between population ecology, animal science, medicine and epidemiology, current studies of the role of the maternal transfer of an…