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Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens

Barbara Milutinović1, Miriam Stock1, Anna V Grasse1

  • 1IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Ecology Letters
|January 18, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Social immunity in ants modulates pathogen competition during coinfections. Ant social behaviors reduce disease severity but alter fungal spore production, especially with diverse pathogen species.

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Social Behavior

Background:

  • Coinfections with multiple pathogens create complex within-host dynamics impacting virulence and transmission.
  • The influence of social host interactions on pathogen competition, particularly in coinfections of varying diversity, remains poorly understood.

Discussion:

  • Ant social immunity, a form of collective disease defense, was investigated for its effects on fungal pathogen competition in coinfections.
  • Social immunity reduced overall virulence but selectively interfered with spore production in coinfections involving different fungal species.

Key Insights:

  • Social immunity decreased total pathogen sporulation but increased co-sporulation on individual ant cadavers.
  • Host sanitary behaviors, modeled mathematically, can shift competitive advantages towards pathogens less sensitive to grooming, like fast-germinating fungi.
  • Social interactions significantly modulate infection dynamics in coinfected individuals, impacting pathogen communities at both host and population levels.

Outlook:

  • Understanding social immunity's role in modulating coinfection dynamics is crucial for predicting disease spread in social organisms.
  • Further research could explore how different social structures and pathogen types interact to shape within-host and population-level disease outcomes.
Keywords:
multiple infectionspathogen competitionpathogen diversitysocial insectsArgentine antsMetarhizium fungusgroominghost-pathogen interactionsimmune-mediated competitioninfectious disease

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