A High Soldier Proportion Encouraged the Greater Antifungal Immunity in a Subterranean Termite.

ABSTRACT: Termites possess a mighty social immune system, serving as one of the key obstacles to controlling them biologically. However, the dynamic mechanism coordinating the social immunologic defense and caste distribution of the termites remains elusive. This study used the Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and an entomopathogenic fungus as a host-pathogen system and experimentally manipulated a series of groups with different caste compositions of workers and soldiers. Then, the impact of demography on the behavior and innate immunity of termites was explored by analyzing the fungus susceptibility of the respective caste, efficiencies, and caste preferences of sanitary care, as well as the expression of the immune genes and phenoloxidase activity. Overall, to ensure the general health and s

SUBMITTER: Zeng W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9207448 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature