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Antimicrobial strength increases with group size: implications for social evolution.

Christine Turnbull1, Stephen Hoggard, Michael Gillings

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia.

Biology Letters
|October 1, 2010
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Larger insect group sizes correlate with stronger antimicrobial defenses. This suggests increased pathogen defense was crucial for the evolution of social insects and their irreversible transition to complex social structures.

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Area of Science:

  • Insect behavior and evolution
  • Chemical ecology
  • Social biology

Background:

  • Animal aggregations can attract pathogens.
  • Social insects, termed 'superorganisms', evolve massive group sizes.
  • Antimicrobial defenses may be linked to group size evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between innate group size and individual antimicrobial strength in thrips.
  • To determine if increased group size in insects correlates with enhanced pathogen defense mechanisms.
  • To explore the role of antimicrobial strength in the evolution of sociality.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of antimicrobial strength per individual in eight thrips species (Insecta: Thysanoptera).
  • Comparison of antimicrobial activity across species with varying innate group sizes, from solitary to eusocial.
  • Correlation analysis between group size and measured antimicrobial strength.

Main Results:

  • Species with larger innate group sizes (100-700) exhibited stronger antimicrobial activity.
  • Species with smaller groups (10-80) showed lower antimicrobial activity.
  • Solitary species displayed no detectable antimicrobial activity; social species showed activity above certain group size thresholds (e.g., 120 for eusocial).

Conclusions:

  • Antimicrobial strength is significantly determined by innate group size in thrips.
  • The evolution of sociality, increasing group size, likely required enhanced defenses against microbial pathogens.
  • Increased antimicrobial strength accompanying larger group sizes may have been critical for the irreversible evolution of social insect traits.