Speaker
Description
Host innate immunity and social interactions among hosts can act in concert to influence the spread of their parasites. Clonal raider ants (Ooceraea biroi) raid the nests of other ant species and are therefore potentially prone to spillover of their prey’s pathogens, the impact of which is expected to be further exacerbated by the ants’ social lifestyle and lack of genetic diversity. Recent research has found that various honeybee RNA viruses, such as deformed wing virus (DWV) and acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), can be transmitted interspecifically to ants and other arthropods in nature. Thus far, very little is known about the transmission mechanisms and fitness impacts of honeybee-derived virus on ants and whether ants, in turn, respond to infection risk by mounting individual immune defence or by modulating social behaviour. Here, we discuss our preliminary work on the fitness consequences of ABPV infection in clonal raider ant colonies by experimental infection and monitoring subsequent RNAi-mediated antiviral immune responses and viral onward transmission. We also explain our plan to use CRISPR technology to investigate how impaired individual immunity affects disease transmission within ant colonies, and social strategies against infection. This will enable us to explore the costs and benefits of the modulation of both individual immunity and social interations for individual and colony fitness. Ultimately, this research will provide insights into the interplay between host innate immunity and the social environment in the spread of viral parasites in social groups.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
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