Bacterial Exposure at the Larval Stage Induced Sexual Immune Dimorphism and Priming in Adult Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT: Gender differences in the immune response of insects are driven by natural selection for females and sexual selection for males. These natural forces entail a multitude of extrinsic and intrinsic factors involved in a genotype-environment interaction that results in sex-biased expression of the genes shared by males and females. However, little is known about how an infection at a particular ontogenetic stage may influence later stages, or how it may impact sexual immune dimorphism. Using Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of a bacterial exposure at the larval stage on adult immunity in males and females. The parameters measured were phenoloxidase activity, nitric oxide production, antimicrobial activity, and the antimicrobial peptide transcrip

SUBMITTER: Moreno-Garcia M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4504673 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature