Microbial environment affects innate immunity in two closely related earthworm species Eisenia andrei and Eisenia fetida.

ABSTRACT: Survival of earthworms in the environment depends on their ability to recognize and eliminate potential pathogens. This work is aimed to compare the innate defense mechanisms of two closely related earthworm species, Eisenia andrei and Eisenia fetida, that inhabit substantially different ecological niches. While E. andrei lives in a compost and manure, E. fetida can be found in the litter layer in forests. Therefore, the influence of environment-specific microbiota on the immune response of both species was followed. Firstly, a reliable method to discern between E. andrei and E. fetida based on species-specific primers for cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) and stringent PCR conditions was developed. Secondly, to analyze the immunological profile in both earthworm species, the activity and expre

SUBMITTER: Dvorak J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3815151 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature