Female partner preferences enhance offspring ability to survive an infection

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Friederike Winkelser¹  Dustin J Penn¹  Michaela Thoß¹  Sanja Sutalo¹  Kerstin E Thonhauser¹  Shirley Raveh²  Attila Hettyey³ 

[1] Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstr. 1a, 1160, Vienna, Austria;Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstr. 1a, 1160, Vienna, Austria;Department of Environmental Sciences Zoology and Evolution, University of Basel, Vesalgasse 1, 4051, Basel, Switzerland;Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstr. 1a, 1160, Vienna, Austria;“Lendület” Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Herman Ottó út 15, 1022, Budapest, Hungary;

关键词: Partner preference;    Sexual selection;    Mus musculus musculus;    Salmonella;    Pathogen clearance;    Disease resistance;    Pathogen-mediated sexual selection;    Tolerance;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2148-14-14

 received in 2013-10-11, accepted in 2014-01-02,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIt is often suggested that mate choice enhances offspring immune resistance to infectious diseases. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a study with wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus musculus) in which females were experimentally mated either with their preferred or non-preferred male, and their offspring were infected with a mouse pathogen, Salmonella enterica (serovar Typhimurium).ResultsWe found that offspring sired by preferred males were significantly more likely to survive the experimental infection compared to those sired by non-preferred males. We found no significant differences in the pathogen clearance or infection dynamics between the infected mice, suggesting that offspring from preferred males were better able to cope with infection and had improved tolerance rather than immune resistance.ConclusionOur results provide the first direct experimental evidence within a single study that partner preferences enhance offspring resistance to infectious diseases.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Raveh et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014