Age-specific variation of resistance to oxidative stress in the greater flamingo ( Phoenicopterus ruber roseus )

Birds exhibit exceptional longevity and are thus regarded as a convenient model to study the intrinsic mechanisms of aging. The oxidative stress theory of aging suggests that individuals age because molecules, cells, tissues, organs, and, ultimately, animals accumulate oxidative damage over time. Accumulation of damage progressively reduces the level of antioxidant defences that are expected to decline with age. To test this theory, we measured the resistance of red blood cells to free radical attack in a captive population of greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus) of known age ranging from 0.3 to 45years. We observed a convex relationship with young adults (12-20years old) having greater resistance to oxidative stress than immature flamingos (5months old) and old flamingos (30-45years old). Our results suggest that the antioxidant detoxifying system must go through a maturation process before being completely functional. It then declines in older adults, supporting the oxidative theory of aging. Oxidative stress could hence play a significant role in shaping the pattern of senescence in a very long-lived bird specie

Carotenoids modulate the trade-off between egg production and resistance to oxidative stress in zebra finches

9 pagesInternational audienceThe allocation of resources to reproduction and survival is a central question of studies of life history evolution. Usually, increased allocation to current reproduction is paid in terms of reduced future reproduction and/or decreased survival. However, the proximal mechanisms underlying the cost of reproduction are poorly understood. Recently, it has been shown that increased susceptibility to oxidative stress might be one of such proximate links between reproduction and self-maintenance. Organisms possess a range of antioxidant defenses, including endogenously produced molecules (e.g., enzymes) and compounds ingested with food (e.g., carotenoids). If reproductive effort increases the production of reactive oxygen species, the availability of antioxidant defenses may partly or fully counteract the free-radical damages. One could, therefore, expect that the trade-off between reproduction and oxidative stress is modulated by the availability of antioxidant defenses. We tested this hypothesis in zebra finches. We manipulated reproductive effort by either allowing or preventing pairs to breed. Within each breeding or non-breeding group, the availability of antioxidant compounds was manipulated by supplementing or not supplementing the drinking water with carotenoids. We found that although birds in the breeding and non-breeding groups did not differ in their resistance to oxidative stress (the breakdown of red blood cells submitted to a controlled free-radical attack), one aspect of breeding effort (i.e., the number of eggs laid by birds in both breeding and non-breeding groups) was negatively correlated with resistance to oxidative stress only in birds that did not benefit from a carotenoid-supplemented diet. This result therefore suggests that carotenoid availability can modulate the trade-off between reproduction and resistance to oxidative stress

Antibodies and coinfection drive variation in nematode burdens in wild mice

Coinfections with parasitic helminths and microparasites are highly common in nature and can lead to complex within-host interactions between parasite species which can cause negative health outcomes for humans, and domestic and wild animals. Many of these negative health effects worsen with increasing parasite burdens. However, even though many studies have identified several key factors that determine worm burdens across various host systems, less is known about how the immune response interacts with these factors and what the consequences are for the outcome of within-host parasite interactions. We investigated two interacting gastrointestinal parasites of wild wood mice, Heligmosomoides polygyrus (nematode) and Eimeria spp. (coccidia), in order to investigate how host demographic factors, coinfection and the host’s immune response affected parasite burdens and infection probability, and to determine what factors predict parasite-specific and total antibody levels. We found that antibody levels were the only factors that significantly influenced variation in both H. polygyrus burden and infection probability, and Eimeria spp. infection probability. Total faecal IgA was negatively associated with H. polygyrus burden and Eimeria spp. infection, whereas H. polygyrus-specific IgG1 was positively associated with H. polygyrus infection. We further found that the presence of Eimeria spp. had a negative effect on both faecal IgA and H. polygyrus-specific IgG1. Our results show that even in the context of natural demographic and immunological variation amongst individuals, we were able to decipher a role for the host humoral immune response in shaping the within-host interaction between H. polygyrus and Eimeria spp

Experimental assessment of cross-species transmission in a natural multihost–multivector–multipathogen community

Vector-borne pathogens, many of which cause major suffering worldwide, often circulate in diverse wildlife communities comprising multiple reservoir host and/or vector species. However, the complexities of these systems make it challenging to determine the contributions these different species make to transmission. We experimentally manipulated transmission within a natural multihost–multipathogen–multivector system, by blocking flea-borne pathogen transmission from either of two co-occurring host species (bank voles and wood mice). Through genetic analysis of the resulting infections in the hosts and vectors, we show that both host species likely act together to maintain the overall flea community, but cross-species pathogen transmission is relatively rare—most pathogens were predominantly found in only one host species, and there were few cases where targeted treatment affected pathogens in the other host species. However, we do provide experimental evidence of some reservoir–spillover dynamics whereby reductions of some infections in one host species are achieved by blocking transmission from the other host species. Overall, despite the apparent complexity of such systems, we show there can be ‘covert simplicity’, whereby pathogen transmission is primarily dominated by single host species, potentially facilitating the targeting of key hosts for control, even in diverse ecological communities.</jats:p

Senescence in cell oxidative status in two bird species with contrasting life expectancy

Oxidative stress occurs when the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by an organism exceeds its capacity to mitigate the damaging effects of the ROS. Consequently, oxidative stress hypotheses of ageing argue that a decline in fecundity and an increase in the likelihood of death with advancing age reported at the organism level are driven by gradual disruption of the oxidative balance at the cellular level. Here, we measured erythrocyte resistance to oxidative stress in the same individuals over several years in two free-living bird species with contrasting life expectancy, the great tit (known maximum life expectancy is 15.4years) and the Alpine swift (26years). In both species, we found evidence for senescence in cell resistance to oxidative stress, with patterns of senescence becoming apparent as subjects get older. In the Alpine swift, there was also evidence for positive selection on cell resistance to oxidative stress, the more resistant subjects being longer lived. The present findings of inter-individual selection and intra-individual deterioration in cell oxidative status at old age in free-living animals support a role for oxidative stress in the ageing of wild animals

mouse_trapping_data

This file contains all the data collected from trapped mice and was used in the analysi

Rodent Bartonella Sequence Data

The identity of pITS variants detected in wood mice and bank voles sampled from 3 sites in Northwest England during 2011-2012 - Manor Wood (MW), Maresfield and Gordale (MFG) and Rode Hall (RH). "HOST.ID" is a unique number given to each rodent using a subcutaneous microchip. "BLOOD.NO." is a number that identifies each unique blood sample. Species identity of Bartonella was first determined by running PCR amplicons on an agarose gel. Most Bartonella species differ in length at this region of DNA and positive samples were grouped accordingly (size A = doshiae in BV and doshiae-like in WM, size B = grahamii, size C = taylorii, size D = birtlesii, size E = rochalimae-like in BV and BGA in WM). pITS band size is given for each sample, as multiple bands may have been sequenced from the same coinfected sample

DangTrangIntegrativeBiologyFirstArrivedTakes.pdf

BACKGROUND: Within-host microbial communities and interactions among microbes are increasingly recognized as important factors influencing host health and pathogen transmission. The microbial community associated with a host is indeed influenced by a complex network of direct and indirect interactions between the host and the lineages of microbes it harbors, but the mechanisms are rarely established. We investigated the within-host interactions among strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, using experimental infections in mice. We used a fully crossed-design with three distinct strains, each group of hosts receiving two sequential inoculations. We used data from these experimental infections to assess the effect of coinfection on bacterial dissemination and fitness (by measuring the transmission of bacteria to xenodiagnostic ticks) as well as the effect of coinfection on host immune response compared to single infection. RESULTS: The infection and transmission data strongly indicate a competitive interaction among B. burgdorferi strains within a host in which the order of appearance of the strain is the main determinant of the competitive outcome. This pattern is well described by the classic priority effect in the ecological literature. In all cases, the primary strain a mouse was infected with had an absolute fitness advantage primarily since it was transmitted an order of magnitude more than the secondary strain. The mechanism of exclusion of the secondary strain is an inhibition of the colonization of mouse tissues, even though 29% of mice showed some evidence of infection by secondary strain. Contrary to expectation, the strong and specific adaptive immune response evoked against the primary strain was not followed by production of immunoglobulins after the inoculation of the secondary strain, neither against strain-specific antigen nor against antigens common to all strains. Hence, the data do not support a major role of the immune response in the observed priority effect. CONCLUSION: The strong inhibitory priority effect is a dominant mechanism underlying competition for transmission between coinfecting B. burgdorferi strains, most likely through resource exploitation. The observed priority effect could shape bacterial diversity in nature, with consequences in epidemiology and evolution of the disease.Keywords: Apparent competition, Strain competition, OspC, Coinfection, Priority effect, Transmission, Borrelia burgdorfer