Prior exposure to long-day photoperiods alters immune responses and increases susceptibility to parasitic infection in stickleback.

ABSTRACT: Seasonal disease and parasitic infection are common across organisms, including humans, and there is increasing evidence for intrinsic seasonal variation in immune systems. Changes are orchestrated through organisms' physiological clocks using cues such as day length. Ample research in diverse taxa has demonstrated multiple immune responses are modulated by photoperiod, but to date, there have been few experimental demonstrations that photoperiod cues alter susceptibility to infection. We investigated the interactions among photoperiod history, immunity and susceptibility in laboratory-bred three-spined stickleback (a long-day breeding fish) and its external, directly reproducing monogenean parasite Gyrodactylus gasterostei. We demonstrate that previous exposure to long-day photoper

SUBMITTER: Whiting JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423467 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature