Not going with the flow: Locomotor activity does not constrain immunity in a wild fish.

ABSTRACT: Immunity is a central component of fitness in wild animals, but its determinants are poorly understood. In particular, the importance of locomotory activity as a constraint on immunity is unresolved. Using a piscine model (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we combined a 25-month observational time series for a wild lotic habitat with an open flume experiment to determine the influence of locomotor activity (countercurrent swimming) on natural variation in immune function. To maximize the detectability of effects in our flume experiment, we set flow velocity and duration (10 cm/s for 48 hr) just below the point at which exhaustion would ensue. Following this treatment, we measured expression in a set of immune-associated genes and infectious disease resistance through a standard challenge wit

SUBMITTER: Masud N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6854097 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature