1
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Fleischer R, Jones C, Ledezma-Campos P, Czirják GÁ, Sommer S, Gillespie TR, Vicente-Santos A. Gut microbial shifts in vampire bats linked to immunity due to changed diet in human disturbed landscapes. Sci Total Environ 2024; 907:167815. [PMID: 37852483 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic land-use change alters wildlife habitats and modifies species composition, diversity, and contacts among wildlife, livestock, and humans. Such human-modified ecosystems have been associated with emerging infectious diseases, threatening human and animal health. However, human disturbance also creates new resources that some species can exploit. Common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) in Latin America constitute an important example, as their adaptation to human-modified habitats and livestock blood-feeding has implications for e.g., rabies transmission. Despite the well-known links between habitat degradation and disease emergence, few studies have explored how human-induced disturbance influences wildlife behavioural ecology and health, which can alter disease dynamics. To evaluate links among habitat disturbance, diet shifts, gut microbiota, and immunity, we quantified disturbance around roosting caves of common vampire bats in Costa Rica, measured their long-term diet preferences (livestock or wildlife blood) using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, evaluated innate and adaptive immune markers, and characterized their gut microbiota. We observed that bats from roosting caves with more cattle farming nearby fed more on cattle blood. Moreover, gut microbial richness and the abundance of specific gut microbes differed according to feeding preferences. Interestingly, bats feeding primarily on wildlife blood harboured a higher abundance of the bacteria Edwardsiella sp., which tended to be associated with higher immunoglobulin G levels. Our results highlight how human land-use change may indirectly affect wildlife health and emerging infectious diseases through diet-induced shifts in microbiota, with implications for host immunity and potential consequences for susceptibility to pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramona Fleischer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Christie Jones
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Simone Sommer
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Thomas R Gillespie
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Program in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Amanda Vicente-Santos
- Program in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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2
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Costantini D, Schad J, Czirják GÁ, Voigt CC. Oxidative damage varies in response to bacterial, fungal and viral antigen challenges in bats. J Exp Biol 2023; 226:jeb246332. [PMID: 37823235 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The immune system plays an important role in defending against pathogens and regulating physiological homeostasis, but the strength of the immune responses depends on the type of pathogen. The immune system of bats shows a high variability in responsiveness towards various pathogens; they can safely harbor certain pathogens that are highly lethal to other mammals. Oxidative stress may act as a pathophysiological cellular mechanism mediating the immunological function of bats because of its potentially detrimental effects on physiological homeostasis, fertility and longevity. By experimentally exposing greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) to three antigens, it was previously shown that animals reacted immunologically most strongly to bacterial and viral antigens, but not to fungal ones. As a follow up, in this study we observed that both bacterial and fungal antigens induced a significant increase of plasma oxidative damage, whereas viral antigens did not cause any increase of plasma oxidative damage at all albeit the mild immune response. Thus, experimental bats were able to avoid oxidative stress only in the face of a viral antigen, possibly by dampening inflammatory signalling. Bats may be able to handle viral infections and live well beyond expectations by reducing the detrimental effects of molecular oxidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Costantini
- Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, Tuscia University, Largo dell'Università snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
| | - Julia Schad
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian C Voigt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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3
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Becker DJ, Merrifield JM, Vágási CI, Czirják GÁ, Pap PL. Spatial Variation in the Inflammatory Response of House Sparrows in their Native Range. Ecohealth 2023; 20:231-235. [PMID: 37936004 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-023-01652-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Characterizing spatial differences in wildlife immunity is the first step to identify environmental drivers of host defense and disease risks. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a model system for ecoimmunology, but spatial differences in immunity have been largely restricted to the invasive range of this global species. We provide an initial test of spatial variation in immune response to phytohemagglutinin in the native range, finding that birds from Romania have greater inflammatory responses than birds from Egypt. Future broad surveys across the house sparrow native range could contextualize these differences and determine underlying drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Becker
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
| | - Jessie M Merrifield
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Csongor I Vágási
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Centre for Systems Biology, Biodiversity and Bioresources, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Péter L Pap
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Centre for Systems Biology, Biodiversity and Bioresources, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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4
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Jakop U, Hensel B, Czirják GÁ, Quirino M, Schröter F, Jung M, Schulze M. Bacterial killing activity and lysozymes: A stable defence mechanism in stallion seminal plasma? Reprod Domest Anim 2023; 58:73-80. [PMID: 36107117 DOI: 10.1111/rda.14260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
During insemination, bacterial contamination of the ejaculate can lead to reduced sperm quality and transmission of pathogens to the female, thus should be avoided. The semen of a variety of animal taxa possess antimicrobial properties against a wide range of bacterial species through antimicrobial molecules, such as lysozyme, but their variance and the factors influencing it are unknown for most species. In this study, the antibacterial defence (bacterial killing activity (BKA) against Escherichia (E.) coli and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus as well as lysozyme concentration) was studied in seminal fluid from two consecutive ejaculates of 18 stallions. All ejaculates showed BKA against the tested bacteria, which correlated between the two consecutive ejaculates (rS = 0.526, p = .025 for E. coli and rS = 0.656, p = .003 for S. aureus) and appeared to be stable over the tested period. The lysozyme concentration (LC) showed no significant correlation between the consecutive ejaculates (rS = 0.161, p = .681). However, LC had a positive correlation to the ratio of apoptotic spermatozoa within the ejaculates (rS = 0.426, p = .019). In contrast to other livestock (e.g., boar, bull), the BKA in stallion semen did not correlate significantly with the age of the animal nor sperm quality characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Jakop
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernau, Germany
| | - Britta Hensel
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernau, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Monike Quirino
- Setor de Suínos, Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Filip Schröter
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center Brandenburg, Brandenburg Medical School, Bernau, Germany
| | - Markus Jung
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernau, Germany
| | - Martin Schulze
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernau, Germany
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5
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Berman TS, Weinberg M, Moreno KR, Czirják GÁ, Yovel Y. In sickness and in health: the dynamics of the fruit bat gut microbiota under a bacterial antigen challenge and its association with the immune response. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1152107. [PMID: 37114064 PMCID: PMC10126333 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1152107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Interactions between the gut microbiome (GM) and the immune system influence host health and fitness. However, few studies have investigated this link and GM dynamics during disease in wild species. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) have an exceptional ability to cope with intracellular pathogens and a unique GM adapted to powered flight. Yet, the contribution of the GM to bat health, especially immunity, or how it is affected by disease, remains unknown. Methods Here, we examined the dynamics of the Egyptian fruit bats' (Rousettus aegyptiacus) GM during health and disease. We provoked an inflammatory response in bats using lipopolysaccharides (LPS), an endotoxin of Gram-negative bacteria. We then measured the inflammatory marker haptoglobin, a major acute phase protein in bats, and analyzed the GM (anal swabs) of control and challenged bats using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, before the challenge, 24h and 48h post challenge. Results We revealed that the antigen challenge causes a shift in the composition of the bat GM (e.g., Weissella, Escherichia, Streptococcus). This shift was significantly correlated with haptoglobin concentration, but more strongly with sampling time. Eleven bacterial sequences were correlated with haptoglobin concentration and nine were found to be potential predictors of the strength of the immune response, and implicit of infection severity, notably Weissella and Escherichia. The bat GM showed high resilience, regaining the colony's group GM composition rapidly, as bats resumed foraging and social activities. Conclusion Our results demonstrate a tight link between bat immune response and changes in their GM, and emphasize the importance of integrating microbial ecology in ecoimmunological studies of wild species. The resilience of the GM may provide this species with an adaptive advantage to cope with infections and maintain colony health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tali S. Berman
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel
- *Correspondence: Tali S. Berman, ; Maya Weinberg,
| | - Maya Weinberg
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel
- *Correspondence: Tali S. Berman, ; Maya Weinberg,
| | - Kelsey R. Moreno
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Yossi Yovel
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv – Yafo, Israel
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6
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Weinberg M, Mazar O, Rachum A, Chen X, Goutink S, Lifshitz N, Winter-Livneh R, Czirják GÁ, Yovel Y. Seasonal challenges of tropical bats in temperate zones. Sci Rep 2022; 12:16869. [PMID: 36207354 PMCID: PMC9546901 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21076-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
To examine the challenges faced by free-ranging Rousettus aegyptiacus living at the northern edge of their distribution, we performed a retrospective analysis of 2196 clinical cases reported by a bat rescue NGO over a period of 36 months, from throughout Israel. All cases of injured bats were evaluated and categorized according to date, place, sex, age, and etiology of the morbidity. The data analysis revealed an increase in all types of morbidity during the wintertime, with more than two-fold the number of cases per week compared to in the summer, over three consecutive years. Moreover, we found that the number of abandoned pups peaked during spring and summer, when adult morbidity is minimal. We characterized two prominent types of previously undescribed morbidities in R. aegyptiacus. We also employed GPS tracking to monitor the movement and foraging of dozens of bats, and to examine the potential correlates of elevated winter morbidity. Our results suggest that it is mainly harsh weather that drives the observed winter morbidity, with food limitations playing a minor-role. We hypothesize that R. aegyptiacus, of tropical origin, is facing major seasonal survival difficulties near the northern edge of its distribution, probably limiting its spread further northwards still.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Weinberg
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,Amutat Atalef, The Israeli Bat Sanctuary (NGO), Beit-Shemesh, Israel.
| | - Omer Mazar
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Adi Rachum
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Xing Chen
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Sophia Goutink
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Nora Lifshitz
- Amutat Atalef, The Israeli Bat Sanctuary (NGO), Beit-Shemesh, Israel
| | - Rona Winter-Livneh
- Open Landscape Institute (OLI), The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Yossi Yovel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.,National Research Center for Biodiversity Studies, The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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7
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Brust V, Eikenaar C, Packmor F, Schmaljohann H, Hüppop O, Czirják GÁ. Do departure and flight route decisions correlate with immune parameters in migratory songbirds? Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vera Brust
- Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Cas Eikenaar
- Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Florian Packmor
- Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven Germany
- Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park Authority Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Heiko Schmaljohann
- Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven Germany
- Institute for Biology und Environmental Sciences (IBU), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg Oldenburg Germany
| | - Ommo Hüppop
- Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Disease Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin Germany
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8
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Treu G, Sinding MHS, Czirják GÁ, Dietz R, Gräff T, Krone O, Marquard-Petersen U, Mikkelsen JB, Schulz R, Sonne C, Søndergaard J, Sun J, Zubrod J, Eulaers I. An assessment of mercury and its dietary drivers in fur of Arctic wolves from Greenland and High Arctic Canada. Sci Total Environ 2022; 838:156171. [PMID: 35613645 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Mercury has become a ubiquitous hazardous element even ending up in pristine areas such as the Arctic, where it biomagnifies and leaves especially top predators vulnerable to potential health effects. Here we investigate total mercury (THg) concentrations and dietary proxies for trophic position and habitat foraging (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) in fur of 30 Arctic wolves collected during 1869-1998 in the Canadian High Arctic and Greenland. Fur THg concentrations (mean ± SD) of 1.46 ± 1.39 μg g -1 dry weight are within the range of earlier reported values for other Arctic terrestrial species. Based on putative thresholds for Hg-mediated toxic health effects, the studied Arctic wolves have most likely not been at compromised health. Dietary proxies show high dietary plasticity among Arctic wolves deriving nutrition from both marine and terrestrial food sources at various trophic positions. Variability in THg concentrations seem to be related to the wolves' trophic position rather than to different carbon sources or regional differences (East Greenland, the Foxe Basin and Baffin Bay area, respectively). Although the present study remains limited due to the scarce, yet unique historic study material and small sample size, it provides novel information on temporal and spatial variation in Hg pollution of remote Arctic species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Treu
- German Environment Agency, Department Chemicals, DE-06844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany; Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, DE-10315 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mikkel-Holger S Sinding
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, Nuuk, Greenland
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, DE-10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Rune Dietz
- Department of Ecoscience, Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Thomas Gräff
- German Environment Agency, Department Systems on Chemical Safety, DE-6844 Dessau-Roßlau, Germany
| | - Oliver Krone
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, DE-10315 Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | - Ralf Schulz
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, DE-76829 Landau, Germany
| | - Christian Sonne
- Department of Ecoscience, Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Jens Søndergaard
- Department of Ecoscience, Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Jiachen Sun
- College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, CN-266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Jochen Zubrod
- iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, DE-76829 Landau, Germany; Zubrod Environmental Data Science, Friesenstrasse 20, 76829 Landau, Germany
| | - Igor Eulaers
- Department of Ecoscience, Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark; Fram Centre, Norwegian Polar Institute, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway.
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9
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Odewahn R, Wright BR, Czirják GÁ, Higgins DP. Differences in constitutive innate immunity between divergent Australian marsupials. Dev Comp Immunol 2022; 132:104399. [PMID: 35307478 DOI: 10.1016/j.dci.2022.104399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding immunity in wildlife populations is important from both One Health and conservation perspectives. The constitutive innate immune system is the first line of defence against pathogens, and comparisons among taxa can test the impact of evolution and life history on immune function. We investigated serum bacterial killing ability (BKA) of five marsupial species that employ varying life history strategies, demonstrated to influence immunity in other vertebrates. The brushtail possum and eastern grey kangaroo had the greatest BKA, while ringtail possums and koalas had the least. These differences were independent of social structure, captivity status and phylogeny, but were associated with diet and body size. Sex and disease status had no effect on BKA in koalas, however potential for differences between wild and captive koalas warrants further investigation. The current study has provided a foundation for future investigations into how adaptive and innate immunity interact in marsupials from an eco-evolutionary perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Odewahn
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Belinda R Wright
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Damien P Higgins
- Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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10
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Weyrich A, Guerrero-Altamirano TP, Yasar S, Czirják GÁ, Wachter B, Fickel J. First Steps towards the Development of Epigenetic Biomarkers in Female Cheetahs ( Acinonyx jubatus). Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12060920. [PMID: 35743950 PMCID: PMC9225391 DOI: 10.3390/life12060920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are generally healthy, whereas cheetahs under human care, such as those in zoological gardens, suffer from ill-defined infectious and degenerative pathologies. These differences are only partially explained by husbandry management programs because both groups share low genetic diversity. However, mounting evidence suggests that physiological differences between populations in different environments can be tracked down to differences in epigenetic signatures. Here, we identified differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between free-ranging cheetahs and conspecifics in zoological gardens and prospect putative links to pathways relevant to immunity, energy balance and homeostasis. Comparing epigenomic DNA methylation profiles obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from eight free-ranging female cheetahs from Namibia and seven female cheetahs living in zoological gardens within Europe, we identified DMRs of which 22 were hypermethylated and 23 hypomethylated. Hypermethylated regions in cheetahs under human care were located in the promoter region of a gene involved in host-pathogen interactions (KLC1) and in an intron of a transcription factor relevant for the development of pancreatic β-cells, liver, and kidney (GLIS3). The most canonical mechanism of DNA methylation in promoter regions is assumed to repress gene transcription. Taken together, this could indicate that hypermethylation at the promoter region of KLC1 is involved in the reduced immunity in cheetahs under human care. This approach can be generalized to characterize DNA methylation profiles in larger cheetah populations under human care with a more granular longitudinal data collection, which, in the future, could be used to monitor the early onset of pathologies, and ultimately translate into the development of biomarkers with prophylactic and/or therapeutic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Weyrich
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; (T.P.G.-A.); (S.Y.)
- Correspondence: (A.W.); (B.W.); (J.F.)
| | - Tania P. Guerrero-Altamirano
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; (T.P.G.-A.); (S.Y.)
- Program in Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Selma Yasar
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; (T.P.G.-A.); (S.Y.)
- Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany;
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Correspondence: (A.W.); (B.W.); (J.F.)
| | - Jörns Fickel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; (T.P.G.-A.); (S.Y.)
- Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
- Correspondence: (A.W.); (B.W.); (J.F.)
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11
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Vincze O, Vágási CI, Pénzes J, Szabó K, Magonyi NM, Czirják GÁ, Pap PL. Sexual dimorphism in immune function and oxidative physiology across birds: The role of sexual selection. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:958-970. [PMID: 35106902 PMCID: PMC9305230 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Sex‐specific physiology is commonly reported in animals, often indicating lower immune indices and higher oxidative stress in males than in females. Sexual selection is argued to explain these differences, but empirical evidence is limited. Here, we explore sex differences in immunity, oxidative physiology and packed cell volume of wild, adult, breeding birds (97 species, 1997 individuals, 14 230 physiological measurements). We show that higher female immune indices are most common across birds (when bias is present), but oxidative physiology shows no general sex‐bias and packed cell volume is generally male‐biased. In contrast with predictions based on sexual selection, male‐biased sexual size dimorphism is associated with male‐biased immune measures. Sexual dichromatism, mating system and parental roles had no effect on sex‐specificity in physiology. Importantly, female‐biased immunity remained after accounting for sexual selection indices. We conclude that cross‐species differences in physiological sex‐bias are largely unrelated to sexual selection and alternative explanations should be explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orsolya Vincze
- Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Debrecen, Hungary.,Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Csongor I Vágási
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Janka Pénzes
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Krisztián Szabó
- Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Nóra M Magonyi
- Doctoral School of Biology and Sportbiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.,Centre for Agricultural Research, Plant Protection Institute, ELKH, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Péter L Pap
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
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12
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Costantini D, Weinberg M, Jordán L, Moreno KR, Yovel Y, Czirják GÁ. Induced bacterial sickness causes inflammation but not blood oxidative stress in Egyptian fruit bats ( Rousettus aegyptiacus). Conserv Physiol 2022; 10:coac028. [PMID: 35492418 PMCID: PMC9042053 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coac028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Bats are particularly interesting vertebrates in their response to pathogens owing to extremes in terms of tolerance and resistance. Oxidation is often a by-product of processes involved in the acute phase response, which may result in antimicrobial or self-damaging effects. We measured the immunological and oxidative status responses of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) to a simulated bacterial infection using lipopolysaccharide injection. As expected, experimental bats exhibited increases in two humoral immunological markers. However, they surprisingly did not show any effects across two markers of oxidative damage and four antioxidant markers. We propose that this lack of effects on oxidative status may be due to a reduction in cell metabolism through sickness behaviours or given life history traits, such as a long lifespan and a frugivorous diet. Finally, the consistency in the pattern of elevation in haptoglobin and lysozyme between current and previous findings highlights their utility as diagnostic markers for extracellular infections in bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Costantini
- Corresponding author: Unité Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation, UMR 7221, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, CP32, 57 rue Cuvier 75005 Paris, France. Tel: 0033(0)140795374,
| | - Maya Weinberg
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lilla Jordán
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Kelsey R Moreno
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Yovel
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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13
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Fritze M, Puechmaille SJ, Fickel J, Czirják GÁ, Voigt CC. A Rapid, in-Situ Minimally-Invasive Technique to Assess Infections with Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Bats. Acta Chiropterologica 2021. [DOI: 10.3161/15081109acc2021.23.1.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Fritze
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Jörns Fickel
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian C. Voigt
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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14
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Krücken J, Czirják GÁ, Ramünke S, Serocki M, Heinrich SK, Melzheimer J, Costa MC, Hofer H, Aschenborn OHK, Barker NA, Capodanno S, de Carvalho LM, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, East ML, Wachter B. Genetic diversity of vector-borne pathogens in spotted and brown hyenas from Namibia and Tanzania relates to ecological conditions rather than host taxonomy. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:328. [PMID: 34134753 PMCID: PMC8207800 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04835-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Improved knowledge on vector-borne pathogens in wildlife will help determine their effect on host species at the population and individual level and whether these are affected by anthropogenic factors such as global climate change and landscape changes. Here, samples from brown hyenas (Parahyaena brunnea) from Namibia (BHNA) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) from Namibia (SHNA) and Tanzania (SHTZ) were screened for vector-borne pathogens to assess the frequency and genetic diversity of pathogens and the effect of ecological conditions and host taxonomy on this diversity. Methods Tissue samples from BHNA (n = 17), SHNA (n = 19) and SHTZ (n = 25) were analysed by PCRs targeting Anaplasmataceae, Rickettsia spp., piroplasms, specifically Babesia lengau-like piroplasms, Hepatozoidae and filarioids. After sequencing, maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analyses were conducted. Results The relative frequency of Anaplasmataceae was significantly higher in BHNA (82.4%) and SHNA (100.0%) than in SHTZ (32.0%). Only Anaplasma phagocytophilum/platys-like and Anaplasma bovis-like sequences were detected. Rickettsia raoultii was found in one BHNA and three SHTZ. This is the first report of R. raoultii from sub-Saharan Africa. Babesia lengau-like piroplasms were found in 70.6% of BHNA, 88.9% of SHNA and 32.0% of SHTZ, showing higher sequence diversity than B. lengau from South African cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). In one SHTZ, a Babesia vogeli-like sequence was identified. Hepatozoon felis-like parasites were identified in 64.7% of BHNA, 36.8% of SHNA and 44.0% of SHTZ. Phylogenetic analysis placed the sequences outside the major H. felis cluster originating from wild and domestic felids. Filarioids were detected in 47.1% of BHNA, 47.4% of SHNA and 36.0% of SHTZ. Phylogenetic analysis revealed high genetic diversity and suggested the presence of several undescribed species. Co-infections were frequently detected in SHNA and BHNA (BHNA median 3 pathogens, range 1–4; SHNA median 3 pathogens, range 2–4) and significantly rarer in SHTZ (median 1, range 0–4, 9 individuals uninfected). Conclusions The frequencies of all pathogens groups were high, and except for Rickettsia, multiple species and genotypes were identified for each pathogen group. Ecological conditions explained pathogen identity and diversity better than host taxonomy. Graphic Abstract ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04835-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen Krücken
- Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sabrina Ramünke
- Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maria Serocki
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sonja K Heinrich
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jörg Melzheimer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - M Carolina Costa
- Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Heribert Hofer
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Nancy A Barker
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Stefano Capodanno
- Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Veterinary Medicine, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy
| | - Luís Madeira de Carvalho
- Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Em Sanidade Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | - Marion L East
- Department of Ecological Dynamics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
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15
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Ferreira SCM, Veiga MM, Hofer H, East ML, Czirják GÁ. Noninvasively measured immune responses reflect current parasite infections in a wild carnivore and are linked to longevity. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:7685-7699. [PMID: 34188844 PMCID: PMC8216923 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Host immune defenses are important components of host-parasite interactions that affect the outcome of infection and may have fitness consequences for hosts when increased allocation of resources to immune responses undermines other essential life processes. Research on host-parasite interactions in large free-ranging wild mammals is currently hampered by a lack of verified noninvasive assays. We successfully adapted existing assays to measure innate and adaptive immune responses produced by the gastrointestinal mucosa in spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) feces, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), to quantify fecal immunoglobulins (total IgA, total IgG) and total fecal O-linked oligosaccharides (mucin). We investigated the effect of infection load by an energetically costly hookworm (Ancylostoma), parasite richness, host age, sex, year of sampling, and clan membership on immune responses and asked whether high investment in immune responses during early life affects longevity in individually known spotted hyenas in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Fecal concentrations of IgA, IgG, and mucin increased with Ancylostoma egg load and were higher in juveniles than in adults. Females had higher mucin concentrations than males. Juvenile females had higher IgG concentrations than juvenile males, whereas adult females had lower IgG concentrations than adult males. High IgA concentrations during the first year of life were linked to reduced longevity after controlling for age at sampling and Ancylostoma egg load. Our study demonstrates that the use of noninvasive methods can increase knowledge on the complex relationship between gastrointestinal parasites and host local immune responses in wild large mammals and reveal fitness-relevant effects of these responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana C. M. Ferreira
- Department of Ecological DynamicsLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
- Present address:
Division of Computational Systems BiologyCentre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems ScienceViennaAustria
| | - Miguel M. Veiga
- Department of Ecological DynamicsLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
| | - Heribert Hofer
- Department of Ecological DynamicsLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
- Department of Veterinary MedicineFreie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
- Department of Biology, Chemistry and PharmacyFreie Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Marion L. East
- Department of Ecological DynamicsLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife DiseasesLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
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16
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Fritze M, Puechmaille SJ, Costantini D, Fickel J, Voigt CC, Czirják GÁ. Determinants of defence strategies of a hibernating European bat species towards the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Dev Comp Immunol 2021; 119:104017. [PMID: 33476670 DOI: 10.1016/j.dci.2021.104017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the causative agent of white-nose syndrome in North America, has decimated bat populations within a decade. The fungus impacts bats during hibernation when physiological functions, including immune responses, are down-regulated. Studies have shown that Pd is native to Europe, where it is not associated with mass mortalities. Moreover, genomic and proteomic studies indicated that European bats may have evolved an effective immune defence, which is lacking in North American bats. However, it is still unclear which defence strategy enables European bats to cope with the pathogen. Here, we analyzed selected physiological and immunological parameters in torpid, Pd infected European greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) showing three different levels of infection (asymptomatic, mild and severe symptoms). From a subset of the studied bats we tracked skin temperatures during one month of hibernation. Contrasting North American bats, arousal patterns remained unaffected by Pd infections in M. myotis. In general, heavier M. myotis aroused more often from hibernation and showed less severe disease symptoms than lean individuals; most likely because heavy bats were capable of reducing the Pd load more effectively than lean individuals. In the blood of severely infected bats, we found higher gene expression levels of an inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β), but lower levels of an acute phase protein (haptoglobin), reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) and plasma non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (OXY) compared to conspecifics with lower levels of infection. We conclude that M. myotis, and possibly also other European bat species, tolerate Pd infections during torpor by using selected acute phase response parameters at baseline levels, yet without arousing from torpor and without synthesizing additional immune molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Fritze
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Sebastien J Puechmaille
- Institut des Sciences de L'Evolution, University of Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - David Costantini
- Unité Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation (PhyMA), Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, CP32, 57 Rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Jörns Fickel
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany; Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Christian C Voigt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany; Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
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17
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Moreno KR, Weinberg M, Harten L, Salinas Ramos VB, Herrera M LG, Czirják GÁ, Yovel Y. Sick bats stay home alone: fruit bats practice social distancing when faced with an immunological challenge. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2021; 1505:178-190. [PMID: 33876431 PMCID: PMC9290741 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Along with its many advantages, social roosting imposes a major risk of pathogen transmission. How social animals reduce this risk is poorly documented. We used lipopolysaccharide challenge to imitate bacterial infection in both a captive and a free‐living colony of an extremely social, long‐lived mammal—the Egyptian fruit bat. We monitored behavioral and physiological responses using an arsenal of methods, including onboard GPS to track foraging, acceleration sensors to monitor movement, infrared video to record social behavior, and blood samples to measure immune markers. Sick‐like (immune‐challenged) bats exhibited an increased immune response, as well as classic illness symptoms, including fever, weight loss, anorexia, and lethargy. Notably, the bats also exhibited behaviors that would reduce pathogen transfer. They perched alone and appeared to voluntarily isolate themselves from the group by leaving the social cluster, which is extremely atypical for this species. The sick‐like individuals in the open colony ceased foraging outdoors for at least two nights, thus reducing transmission to neighboring colonies. Together, these sickness behaviors demonstrate a strong, integrative immune response that promotes recovery of infected individuals while reducing pathogen transmission inside and outside the roost, including spillover events to other species, such as humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey R Moreno
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Maya Weinberg
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lee Harten
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Valeria B Salinas Ramos
- Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.,Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico
| | - L Gerardo Herrera M
- Estación de Biología Chamela, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Yossi Yovel
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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18
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Schares G, Joeres M, Rachel F, Tuschy M, Czirják GÁ, Maksimov P, Conraths FJ, Wachter B. Molecular analysis suggests that Namibian cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are definitive hosts of a so far undescribed Besnoitia species. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:201. [PMID: 33853647 PMCID: PMC8048190 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04697-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Besnoitia darlingi, B. neotomofelis and B. oryctofelisi are closely related coccidian parasites with felids as definitive hosts. These parasites use a variety of animal species as intermediate hosts. North American opossums (Didelphis virginiana), North American southern plains woodrats (Neotoma micropus) and South American domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are intermediate hosts of B. darlingi, B. neotomofelis and B. oryctofelisi, respectively. Based on conserved regions in the internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1) sequence of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA), a real-time PCR for a sensitive detection of these Besnoitia spp. in tissues of intermediate hosts and faeces of definitive hosts has recently been established. Available sequence data suggest that species such as B. akodoni and B. jellisoni are also covered by this real-time PCR. It has been hypothesised that additional Besnoitia spp. exist worldwide that are closely related to B. darlingi or B. darlingi-like parasites (B. neotomofelis, B. oryctofelisi, B. akodoni or B. jellisoni). Also related, but not as closely, is B. besnoiti, the cause of bovine besnoitiosis. Methods Faecal samples from two free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) from Namibia that had previously tested positive for coccidian parasites by coproscopy were used for this study. A conventional PCR verified the presence of coccidian parasite DNA. To clarify the identity of these coccidia, the faecal DNA samples were further characterised by species-specific PCRs and Sanger sequencing. Results One of the samples tested positive for B. darlingi or B. darlingi-like parasites by real-time PCR, while no other coccidian parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii, Hammondia hammondi, H. heydorni, B. besnoiti and Neospora caninum, were detected in the two samples. The rDNA of the B. darlingi-like parasite was amplified and partially sequenced. Comparison with existing sequences in GenBank revealed a close relationship to other Besnoitia spp., but also showed clear divergences. Conclusions Our results suggest that a so far unknown Besnoitia species exists in Namibian wildlife, which is closely related to B. darlingi, B. neotomofelis, B. oryctofelisi, B. akodoni or B. jellisoni. The cheetah appears to be the definitive host of this newly discovered parasite, while prey species of the cheetah may act as intermediate hosts. ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04697-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gereon Schares
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
| | - Maike Joeres
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Franziska Rachel
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Mareen Tuschy
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Street 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pavlo Maksimov
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Franz J Conraths
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Street 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
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19
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Ohmer MEB, Costantini D, Czirják GÁ, Downs CJ, Ferguson LV, Flies A, Franklin CE, Kayigwe AN, Knutie S, Richards-Zawacki CL, Cramp RL. Applied ecoimmunology: using immunological tools to improve conservation efforts in a changing world. Conserv Physiol 2021; 9:coab074. [PMID: 34512994 PMCID: PMC8422949 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/coab074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Ecoimmunology is a rapidly developing field that explores how the environment shapes immune function, which in turn influences host-parasite relationships and disease outcomes. Host immune defence is a key fitness determinant because it underlies the capacity of animals to resist or tolerate potential infections. Importantly, immune function can be suppressed, depressed, reconfigured or stimulated by exposure to rapidly changing environmental drivers like temperature, pollutants and food availability. Thus, hosts may experience trade-offs resulting from altered investment in immune function under environmental stressors. As such, approaches in ecoimmunology can provide powerful tools to assist in the conservation of wildlife. Here, we provide case studies that explore the diverse ways that ecoimmunology can inform and advance conservation efforts, from understanding how Galapagos finches will fare with introduced parasites, to using methods from human oncology to design vaccines against a transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils. In addition, we discuss the future of ecoimmunology and present 10 questions that can help guide this emerging field to better inform conservation decisions and biodiversity protection. From better linking changes in immune function to disease outcomes under different environmental conditions, to understanding how individual variation contributes to disease dynamics in wild populations, there is immense potential for ecoimmunology to inform the conservation of imperilled hosts in the face of new and re-emerging pathogens, in addition to improving the detection and management of emerging potential zoonoses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel E B Ohmer
- Living Earth Collaborative, Washington University in St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - David Costantini
- Unité Physiologie Moléculaire et Adaptation (PhyMA), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, 57 Rue Cuvier, CP32, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Cynthia J Downs
- Department of Environmental Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Laura V Ferguson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Andy Flies
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Tasmania 7001, Australia
| | - Craig E Franklin
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Ahab N Kayigwe
- Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Tasmania 7001, Australia
| | - Sarah Knutie
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268, USA
- Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268, USA
| | | | - Rebecca L Cramp
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Corresponding author: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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20
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Soilemetzidou ES, De Bruin E, Franz M, Aschenborn OHK, Rimmelzwaan GF, van Beek R, Koopmans M, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Diet May Drive Influenza A Virus Exposure in African Mammals. J Infect Dis 2020; 221:175-182. [PMID: 30838397 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Influenza A viruses (IAVs) represent repeatedly emerging pathogens with near worldwide distribution and an unclear nonavian-host spectrum. While the natural hosts for IAV are among waterfowl species, certain mammals can be productively infected. Southern Africa is home to diverse avian and mammalian fauna for which almost no information exists on IAV dynamics. METHODS We evaluated 111 serum samples from 14 mammalian species from Namibia for the presence of IAV-specific antibodies and tested whether host phylogeny, sociality, or diet influence viral prevalence and diversity. RESULTS Free-ranging African mammals are exposed to diverse IAV subtypes. Herbivores developed antibodies against 3 different hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes, at low prevalence, while carnivores showed a higher prevalence and diversity of HA-specific antibody responses against 11 different subtypes. Host phylogeny and sociality were not significantly associated with HA antibody prevalence or subtype diversity. Both seroprevalence and HA diversity were significantly increased in carnivores regularly feeding on birds. CONCLUSIONS The risk of infection and transmission may be driven by diet and ecological factors that increase contact with migratory and resident waterfowl. Consequently, wild mammals, particularly those that specialize on hunting and scavenging birds, could play an important but overlooked role in influenza epizootics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mathias Franz
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin
| | - Ortwin H K Aschenborn
- Bwabwata Ecological Institute, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Zambezi, Namibia
| | - Guus F Rimmelzwaan
- Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.,Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | | | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin.,Department of Veterinary Medicine, Free University of Berlin, Berlin
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin
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21
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Schulze M, Jakop U, Schröter F, Herrmann C, Leiding C, Müller K, Jung M, Czirják GÁ. Antibacterial defense in bull and boar semen: A putative link to the microbiome and reproductive strategy? Theriogenology 2020; 157:335-340. [PMID: 32841830 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2020.07.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Several domestic and wildlife species have been shown to possess antibacterial defenses in their ejaculate most probably in order to increase the fertilization success and protect against sexually transmitted pathogens. However, very little is known about the consequences and factors influencing the differences within and between species as far as ejaculate-associated immunity. In the present study, we have analyzed bacterial killing activity (BKA) against Escherichia (E.) coli and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus as well as lysozyme concentrations (LC) in seminal plasma from 60 Fleckvieh bulls. Further, sperm quality and its association with BKA and LC were determined. Twenty percent of the individuals displayed BKA against both bacteria, 78.3% against S. aureus only and 1.7% of the bulls did not indicate any BKA in seminal plasma. No bulls with seminal plasma BKA only against E. coli were identified; implying that 80.0% of the tested bulls had no ejaculate associated defense mechanisms against this gram-negative bacterial species in place. This is in striking contrast to results of Pietrain boars within our previous study, in which 42.8% of the 119 boars expressed an antibacterial activity against E. coli in seminal plasma, 10.9% amongst them with BKA against E. coli only. LC was higher in the bull group with BKA against both bacteria (1.2 ± 0.6 μg/mL) compared to the group with BKA against S. aureus only (0.7 ± 0.3 μg/mL), but - if calculated over all individuals - LC in bulls (0.8 ± 0.4 μg/mL) was lower compared to boars (2.4 ± 1.2 μg/mL). LC showed positive correlations to the age of the bulls and sperm quality as well as a negative relation to bacterial load in raw semen although the highest bacterial contamination was found in animals with seminal plasma BKA against both strains. We discuss the obtained results with regards to possible differences within the microbiome of female and male genital tracts and the reproductive strategies (vaginal vs. uterine depositors) in these two livestock species. Besides identifying the responsible molecules, future phylogenetically controlled comparative studies are needed for a better understanding of the evolution of species differences in ejaculate-associated antibacterial defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Schulze
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernauer Allee 10, D-16321, Bernau, Germany.
| | - U Jakop
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernauer Allee 10, D-16321, Bernau, Germany
| | - F Schröter
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center Brandenburg, Brandenburg Medical School "Theodor-Fontane", Ladeburger Straße 17, D-16321, Bernau, Germany
| | - C Herrmann
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernauer Allee 10, D-16321, Bernau, Germany
| | - C Leiding
- Besamungsverein Neustadt a. d. Aisch e. V., Karl-Eibl-Str. 17-27, D-91413, Neustadt a. d. Aisch, Germany
| | - K Müller
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, D-10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - M Jung
- Institute for Reproduction of Farm Animals Schönow, Bernauer Allee 10, D-16321, Bernau, Germany
| | - G Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, D-10315, Berlin, Germany
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22
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Hecht-Höger AM, Braun BC, Krause E, Meschede A, Krahe R, Voigt CC, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Plasma proteomic profiles differ between European and North American myotid bats colonized by Pseudogymnoascus destructans. Mol Ecol 2020; 29:1745-1755. [PMID: 32279365 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Emerging fungal diseases have become challenges for wildlife health and conservation. North American hibernating bat species are threatened by the psychrophilic fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) causing the disease called white-nose syndrome (WNS) with unprecedented mortality rates. The fungus is widespread in North America and Europe, however, disease is not manifested in European bats. Differences in epidemiology and pathology indicate an evolution of resistance or tolerance mechanisms towards Pd in European bats. We compared the proteomic profile of blood plasma in healthy and Pd-colonized European Myotis myotis and North American Myotis lucifugus in order to identify pathophysiological changes associated with Pd colonization, which might also explain the differences in bat survival. Expression analyses of plasma proteins revealed differences in healthy and Pd-colonized M. lucifugus, but not in M. myotis. We identified differentially expressed proteins for acute phase response, constitutive and adaptive immunity, oxidative stress defence, metabolism and structural proteins of exosomes and desmosomes, suggesting a systemic response against Pd in North American M. lucifugus but not European M. myotis. The differences in plasma proteomic profiles between European and North American bat species colonized by Pd suggest European bats have evolved tolerance mechanisms towards Pd infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Beate C Braun
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eberhard Krause
- Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Angelika Meschede
- Institute of Zoology II, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Christian C Voigt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
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23
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Becker DJ, Nachtmann C, Argibay HD, Botto G, Escalera-Zamudio M, Carrera JE, Tello C, Winiarski E, Greenwood AD, Méndez-Ojeda ML, Loza-Rubio E, Lavergne A, de Thoisy B, Czirják GÁ, Plowright RK, Altizer S, Streicker DG. Leukocyte Profiles Reflect Geographic Range Limits in a Widespread Neotropical Bat. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 59:1176-1189. [PMID: 30873523 PMCID: PMC6907035 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icz007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantifying how the environment shapes host immune defense is important for understanding which wild populations may be more susceptible or resistant to pathogens. Spatial variation in parasite risk, food and predator abundance, and abiotic conditions can each affect immunity, and these factors can also manifest at both local and biogeographic scales. Yet identifying predictors and the spatial scale of their effects is limited by the rarity of studies that measure immunity across many populations of broadly distributed species. We analyzed leukocyte profiles from 39 wild populations of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) across its wide geographic range throughout the Neotropics. White blood cell differentials varied spatially, with proportions of neutrophils and lymphocytes varying up to six-fold across sites. Leukocyte profiles were spatially autocorrelated at small and very large distances, suggesting that local environment and large-scale biogeographic factors influence cellular immunity. Generalized additive models showed that bat populations closer to the northern and southern limits of the species range had more neutrophils, monocytes, and basophils, but fewer lymphocytes and eosinophils, than bats sampled at the core of their distribution. Habitats with access to more livestock also showed similar patterns in leukocyte profiles, but large-scale patterns were partly confounded by time between capture and sampling across sites. Our findings suggest that populations at the edge of their range experience physiologically limiting conditions that predict higher chronic stress and greater investment in cellular innate immunity. High food abundance in livestock-dense habitats may exacerbate such conditions by increasing bat density or diet homogenization, although future spatially and temporally coordinated field studies with common protocols are needed to limit sampling artifacts. Systematically assessing immune function and response over space will elucidate how environmental conditions influence traits relevant to epidemiology and help predict disease risks with anthropogenic disturbance, land conversion, and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Becker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.,Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Cecilia Nachtmann
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Hernan D Argibay
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Germán Botto
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA.,Departamento de Metodos Cuantitativos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay
| | - Marina Escalera-Zamudio
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin 10315, Germany.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
| | - Jorge E Carrera
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura 20009, Peru.,Programa de Conservación de Murciélagos de Perú, Piura Lima-1, Peru
| | - Carlos Tello
- Association for the Conservation and Development of Natural Resources, Lima 15037, Peru.,Yunkawasi, Lima 15049, Peru
| | - Erik Winiarski
- Departamento de Histología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin 10315, Germany.,Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 14163, Germany
| | - Maria L Méndez-Ojeda
- Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Veracruzana, Veracruz 91710, Mexico
| | - Elizabeth Loza-Rubio
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Disciplinaria en Microbiología Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Mexico City 05110, Mexico
| | - Anne Lavergne
- Laboratoire des Interactions Virus-Hôtes, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, French Guiana F-97300, France
| | - Benoit de Thoisy
- Laboratoire des Interactions Virus-Hôtes, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, Cayenne, French Guiana F-97300, France
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Raina K Plowright
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA
| | - Sonia Altizer
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Daniel G Streicker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.,Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK.,MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
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24
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Trillmich F, Guenther A, Jäckel M, Czirják GÁ. Reproduction affects immune defenses in the guinea pig even under ad libitum food. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0230081. [PMID: 32176718 PMCID: PMC7075551 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproduction is one of the costliest processes in the life of an animal. Life history theory assumes that when resources are limiting allocation to reproduction will reduce allocation to other essential processes thereby inducing costs of reproduction. The immune system is vital for survival. If reproduction reduces investment in immune function, this could increase the risk of disease, morbidity and mortality. We here test in the guinea pig, if even under ad libitum food conditions, pregnancy and lactation reduce the activity of the adaptive and innate immune system compared to the reaction of non-reproducing animals. In response to a challenge with keyhole limpet haemocyanin the antibody-mediated adaptive immunity during (pregnancy and) lactation was reduced. Pregnant and lactating females showed higher levels of bacterial killing activity, an integrated measure of innate immunity, than non-reproducing females. However, two major effectors of the innate immunity, the natural antibody and the complement of pregnant and lactating females showed lower levels than in non-reproducing females. Pregnant and lactating females did not differ significantly in the expressed levels of innate immunity. Our results indicate that changes in the immune response during reproduction are physiological adjustments to predictable allocation problems, because they happen even under ad libitum food availability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fritz Trillmich
- Department of Animal Behaviour, University Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Anja Guenther
- Department of Animal Behaviour, University Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
- Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Genetics, Plön, Germany
| | - Manuela Jäckel
- Department of Animal Behaviour, University Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
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25
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Seeber PA, Morrison T, Ortega A, East ML, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Immune differences in captive and free-ranging zebras (Equus zebra and E. quagga). Mamm Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-020-00006-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
AbstractWild mammals in ex situ captivity experience substantially different environmental conditions compared to free-ranging conspecifics, e.g., in terms of diet, climatic conditions, social factors, movement space, and direct anthropogenic disturbance. Moreover, animals in captivity frequently undergo management interventions such as medical treatments which may influence pathogen pressure. Captivity is known to affect immunological responses in some terrestrial and marine mammals; however, it is unclear whether this can be generalized to other taxa. Furthermore, little is known about how energetically costly life history stages such as lactation influence the immune system in wildlife. We measured expression of components of the constitutive and induced innate immunity and of the adaptive immune system in plains and mountain zebras (Equus quagga and E. zebra), including lactating and non-lactating individuals. As a proxy for general immune function, we screened for lytic equine herpesvirus (EHV) infection, a common and often latent pathogen which is reactivated in response to stress and immune challenge. Both energetically cheap markers of the constitutive innate immunity were lower in captive than in wild zebras, whereas energetically costly markers of the induced innate immunity were more highly expressed in captive zebras. Lactation was associated with higher titers of natural antibodies and lysozyme. Lytic EHV infection was not significantly correlated with any of the measured immune markers. Our results suggest that captivity and lactation may influence immune functions in zebra mares.
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26
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Soilemetzidou ES, de Bruin E, Eschke K, Azab W, Osterrieder N, Czirják GÁ, Buuveibaatar B, Kaczensky P, Koopmans M, Walzer C, Greenwood AD. Bearing the brunt: Mongolian khulan (Equus hemionus hemionus) are exposed to multiple influenza A strains. Vet Microbiol 2020; 242:108605. [PMID: 32122608 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2020.108605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The majority of influenza A virus strains are hosted in nature by avian species in the orders of Anseriformes and Charadriformes. A minority of strains have been able to cross species boundaries and establish themselves in novel non-avian hosts. Influenza viruses of horses, donkeys, and mules represent such successful events of avian to mammal influenza virus adaptation. Mongolia has over 3 million domestic horses and is home to two wild equids, the Asiatic wild ass or khulan (Equus hemionus hemionus), and Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). Domestic and wild equids are sympatric across most of their range in Mongolia. Epizootic influenza A virus outbreaks among Mongolian domestic horses have been frequently recorded. However, the exposure, circulation and relation to domestic horse influenza A virus outbreaks among wild equids is unknown. We evaluated serum samples of Asiatic wild asses in Mongolia for antibodies against influenza A viruses, using modified protein microarray technique. We detected antibodies against hemagglutinin (H) H1, H3, H5, H7, H8 and H10 influenza A viruses. Asiatic wild asses may represent a previously unidentified influenza A virus reservoir in an ecosystem shared with populations of domestic horses in which influenza strains circulate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eirini S Soilemetzidou
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Kathrin Eschke
- Institut Für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Walid Azab
- Institut Für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Petra Kaczensky
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
| | | | - Chris Walzer
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria; Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, USA
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany; Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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27
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Becker DJ, Albery GF, Kessler MK, Lunn TJ, Falvo CA, Czirják GÁ, Martin LB, Plowright RK. Macroimmunology: The drivers and consequences of spatial patterns in wildlife immune defence. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:972-995. [PMID: 31856309 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence and intensity of parasites in wild hosts varies across space and is a key determinant of infection risk in humans, domestic animals and threatened wildlife. Because the immune system serves as the primary barrier to infection, replication and transmission following exposure, we here consider the environmental drivers of immunity. Spatial variation in parasite pressure, abiotic and biotic conditions, and anthropogenic factors can all shape immunity across spatial scales. Identifying the most important spatial drivers of immunity could help pre-empt infectious disease risks, especially in the context of how large-scale factors such as urbanization affect defence by changing environmental conditions. We provide a synthesis of how to apply macroecological approaches to the study of ecoimmunology (i.e. macroimmunology). We first review spatial factors that could generate spatial variation in defence, highlighting the need for large-scale studies that can differentiate competing environmental predictors of immunity and detailing contexts where this approach might be favoured over small-scale experimental studies. We next conduct a systematic review of the literature to assess the frequency of spatial studies and to classify them according to taxa, immune measures, spatial replication and extent, and statistical methods. We review 210 ecoimmunology studies sampling multiple host populations. We show that whereas spatial approaches are relatively common, spatial replication is generally low and unlikely to provide sufficient environmental variation or power to differentiate competing spatial hypotheses. We also highlight statistical biases in macroimmunology, in that few studies characterize and account for spatial dependence statistically, potentially affecting inferences for the relationships between environmental conditions and immune defence. We use these findings to describe tools from geostatistics and spatial modelling that can improve inference about the associations between environmental and immunological variation. In particular, we emphasize exploratory tools that can guide spatial sampling and highlight the need for greater use of mixed-effects models that account for spatial variability while also allowing researchers to account for both individual- and habitat-level covariates. We finally discuss future research priorities for macroimmunology, including focusing on latitudinal gradients, range expansions and urbanization as being especially amenable to large-scale spatial approaches. Methodologically, we highlight critical opportunities posed by assessing spatial variation in host tolerance, using metagenomics to quantify spatial variation in parasite pressure, coupling large-scale field studies with small-scale field experiments and longitudinal approaches, and applying statistical tools from macroecology and meta-analysis to identify generalizable spatial patterns. Such work will facilitate scaling ecoimmunology from individual- to habitat-level insights about the drivers of immune defence and help predict where environmental change may most alter infectious disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Becker
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.,Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Gregory F Albery
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Tamika J Lunn
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
| | - Caylee A Falvo
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lynn B Martin
- Department of Global and Planetary Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Raina K Plowright
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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28
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Seltmann A, Schares G, Aschenborn OHK, Heinrich SK, Thalwitzer S, Wachter B, Czirják GÁ. Species-specific differences in Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Besnoitia besnoiti seroprevalence in Namibian wildlife. Parasit Vectors 2020; 13:7. [PMID: 31915056 PMCID: PMC6950991 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3871-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Knowledge about parasitic infections is crucial information for animal health, particularly of free-ranging species that might come into contact with livestock and humans. Methods We investigated the seroprevalence of three tissue-cyst-forming apicomplexan parasites (Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Besnoitia besnoiti) in 506 individuals of 12 wildlife species in Namibia using in-house enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (indirect ELISAs applying purified antigens) for screening and immunoblots as confirmatory tests. We included six species of the suborder Feliformia, four species of the suborder Caniformia and two species of the suborder Ruminantia. For the two species for which we had most samples and life-history information, i.e. cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus, n = 250) and leopards (Panthera pardus, n = 58), we investigated T. gondii seroprevalence in relation to age class, sex, sociality (solitary, mother-offspring group, independent sibling group, coalition group) and site (natural habitat vs farmland). Results All but one carnivore species (bat-eared fox Otocyon megalotis, n = 4) were seropositive to T. gondii, with a seroprevalence ranging from 52.4% (131/250) in cheetahs to 93.2% (55/59) in African lions (Panthera leo). We also detected antibodies to T. gondii in 10.0% (2/20) of blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus). Adult cheetahs and leopards were more likely to be seropositive to T. gondii than subadult conspecifics, whereas seroprevalence did not vary with sex, sociality and site. Furthermore, we measured antibodies to N. caninum in 15.4% (2/13) of brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea) and 2.6% (1/39) of black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas). Antibodies to B. besnoiti were detected in 3.4% (2/59) of African lions and 20.0% (4/20) of blue wildebeest. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that Namibian wildlife species were exposed to apicomplexan parasites at different prevalences, depending on parasite and host species. In addition to serological work, molecular work is also needed to better understand the sylvatic cycle and the clear role of wildlife in the epidemiology of these parasites in southern Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Seltmann
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany. .,Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Gereon Schares
- Institute of Epidemiology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald, Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Ortwin H K Aschenborn
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Namibia, Private Bag 13301, Windhoek, Namibia
| | - Sonja K Heinrich
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
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29
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Abstract
Immunological responses of hibernating mammals are suppressed at low body temperatures, a possible explanation for the devastating effect of the white-nose syndrome on hibernating North American bats. However, European bats seem to cope well with the fungal causative agent of the disease. To better understand the immune response of hibernating bats, especially against fungal pathogens, we challenged European greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) by inoculating the fungal antigen zymosan. We monitored torpor patterns, immune gene expressions, different aspects of the acute phase response and plasma oxidative status markers, and compared them with sham-injected control animals at 30 min, 48 h and 96 h after inoculation. Torpor patterns, body temperatures, body masses, white blood cell counts, expression of immune genes, reactive oxygen metabolites and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity did not differ between groups during the experiment. However, zymosan injected bats had significantly higher levels of haptoglobin than the control animals. Our results indicate that hibernating greater mouse-eared bats mount an inflammatory response to a fungal challenge, with only mild to negligible consequences for the energy budget of hibernation. Our study gives a first hint that hibernating European bats may have evolved a hibernation-adjusted immune response in order to balance the trade-off between competent pathogen elimination and a prudent energy-saving regime. Summary: Our experimental immunological study on European bats provides new information on the functionality of the immune system in hibernation. For this we challenged bats with a fungal antigen and measured different immunological parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Fritze
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany .,Institute of Biology, Free University of Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - David Costantini
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,Unité Physiologie moléculaire et adaptation (PhyMA), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS; CP32, 57 rue Cuvier 75005 Paris, France
| | - Jörns Fickel
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,University of Potsdam, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Dana Wehner
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Free University of Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian C Voigt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Free University of Berlin, Takustr. 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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Becker DJ, Czirják GÁ, Rynda-Apple A, Plowright RK. Handling Stress and Sample Storage Are Associated with Weaker Complement-Mediated Bactericidal Ability in Birds but Not Bats. Physiol Biochem Zool 2019; 92:37-48. [PMID: 30481115 DOI: 10.1086/701069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Variation in immune defense influences infectious disease dynamics within and among species. Understanding how variation in immunity drives pathogen transmission among species is especially important for animals that are reservoir hosts for zoonotic pathogens. Bats, in particular, have a propensity to host serious viral zoonoses without developing clinical disease themselves. The immunological adaptations that allow bats to host viruses without disease may be related to their adaptations for flight (e.g., in metabolism and mediation of oxidative stress). A number of analyses report greater richness of zoonotic pathogens in bats than in other taxa, such as birds (i.e., mostly volant vertebrates) and rodents (i.e., nonvolant small mammals), but immunological comparisons between bats and these other taxa are rare. To examine interspecific differences in bacterial killing ability (BKA), a functional measure of overall constitutive innate immunity, we use a phylogenetic meta-analysis to compare how BKA responds to the acute stress of capture and to storage time of frozen samples across the orders Aves and Chiroptera. After adjusting for host phylogeny, sample size, and total microbe colony-forming units, we find preliminary evidence that the constitutive innate immune defense of bats may be more resilient to handling stress and storage time than that of birds. This pattern was also similar when we analyzed the proportion of nonnegative and positive effect sizes per species, using phylogenetic comparative methods. We discuss potential physiological and evolutionary mechanisms by which complement proteins may differ between species orders and suggest future avenues for comparative field studies of immunity between sympatric bats, birds, and rodents in particular.
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31
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Schulze M, Czirják GÁ, Müller K, Bortfeldt R, Jung M, Jakop U. Antibacterial defense and sperm quality in boar ejaculates. J Reprod Immunol 2019; 131:13-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jri.2018.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 11/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Prüter H, Franz M, Auls S, Czirják GÁ, Greben O, Greenwood AD, Lisitsyna O, Syrota Y, Sitko J, Krone O. Chronic lead intoxication decreases intestinal helminth species richness and infection intensity in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Sci Total Environ 2018; 644:151-160. [PMID: 29981515 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Revised: 06/23/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) pollution of aquatic habitats is a known threat to vertebrate health. Depending on Pb dosage, resulting symptoms can be chronic (sublethal) or acute (lethal). While acute exposure results in death of the animal, chronic sublethal exposure can also have consequences, reproduction, antioxidant defense and immunity being the most affected traits. While a great deal is known about Pb intoxication on avian health, relatively little is known about how intoxication impacts parasites dependent on their avian hosts. The effect of Pb on intestinal helminth species richness and infection intensity was investigated in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos, n = 100) from German waters. Coracoid bones were used to measure chronic Pb exposure. Intestinal helminths were characterized morphologically. Molecular approaches were also applied to identify poorly morphologically preserved parasites to obtain sequence data (cox1 gene) for species identification and future parasitological studies. Parasite species richness and infection intensity was found to be significantly lower in birds with higher chronic Pb levels suggesting both host and parasites respond to Pb exposure. Altered immune modulation in the avian host may be the underlying mechanisms of Pb triggered decrease of parasites. However, it also likely reflects differences in the susceptibility of different helminths to Pb. Cestode and acanthocephala species richness were particularly impacted by Pb exposure. We conclude that, Pb intoxication may both negatively impact avian host and parasite diversity in aquatic habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Prüter
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Mathias Franz
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Auls
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Oksana Greben
- National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, 01030 Kiev, Ukraine
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Olga Lisitsyna
- National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, 01030 Kiev, Ukraine
| | - Yaroslav Syrota
- National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Vul. B. Khmelnytskogo, 15, 01030 Kiev, Ukraine; Kyiv Zoological Park of National Importance, prosp. Peremohy, 32, Kyiv 04116, Ukraine
| | - Jilji Sitko
- Komenský Museum, Horní nám. 7, 750 11 Přerov 2, Czech Republic
| | - Oliver Krone
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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33
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Costantini D, Czirják GÁ, Melzheimer J, Menges V, Wachter B. Sex and species differences of stress markers in sympatric cheetahs and leopards in Namibia. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2018; 227:8-13. [PMID: 30201541 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Physiological stress markers may provide valuable insight for our understanding of costs of given life-history strategies or of wildlife health condition, most importantly in case of threatened species. In the last decade, there has been growing interest in the ecological relevance of cellular oxidative stress, which would provide complimentary information to that obtained by the classic analyses of glucocorticoid hormones. In this study, we analysed the sex and species variation of five blood-based markers of oxidative status, both molecular oxidative damage and antioxidant protection, in sympatric cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and leopards (Panthera pardus) living on Namibian farmlands. Both these terrestrial carnivores are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We found that female cheetahs had significantly higher serum reactive oxygen metabolites of non-protein origin and lower glutathione peroxidase activity in whole blood than both male and female leopards and male cheetahs. We also found that cheetahs and leopards differed in the association between the two antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Correlations among oxidative status markers were stronger in female cheetahs than leopards or male cheetahs. Our results suggest that female cheetahs are more sensitive to local sources of stress. Our work did not corroborate the assumption that two species with different life histories consistently differ in key physiological traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Costantini
- UMR 7221 CNRS/MNHN, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 7 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France; Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ Glasgow, Scotland, UK; Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Joerg Melzheimer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Vera Menges
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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34
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Costantini D, Seeber PA, Soilemetzidou SE, Azab W, Bohner J, Buuveibaatar B, Czirják GÁ, East ML, Greunz EM, Kaczensky P, Lamglait B, Melzheimer J, Uiseb K, Ortega A, Osterrieder N, Sandgreen DM, Simon M, Walzer C, Greenwood AD. Physiological costs of infection: herpesvirus replication is linked to blood oxidative stress in equids. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10347. [PMID: 29985431 PMCID: PMC6037783 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28688-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Viruses may have a dramatic impact on the health of their animal hosts. The patho-physiological mechanisms underlying viral infections in animals are, however, not well understood. It is increasingly recognized that oxidative stress may be a major physiological cost of viral infections. Here we compare three blood-based markers of oxidative status in herpes positive and negative individuals of the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus) and of both captive and free-ranging Mongolian khulan (Equus hemionus hemionus) and plains zebra (Equus quagga). Herpes positive free-ranging animals had significantly more protein oxidative damage and lower glutathione peroxidase (antioxidant enzyme) than negative ones, providing correlative support for a link between oxidative stress and herpesvirus infection in free-living equids. Conversely, we found weak evidence for oxidative stress in herpes positive captive animals. Hence our work indicates that environment (captive versus free living) might affect the physiological response of equids to herpesvirus infection. The Mongolian khulan and the plains zebra are currently classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Thus, understanding health impacts of pathogens on these species is critical to maintaining viable captive and wild populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Costantini
- UMR 7221 CNRS/MNHN, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 7 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France.
- Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
- Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Peter A Seeber
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sanatana-Eirini Soilemetzidou
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Walid Azab
- Institut für Virologie, Robert von Ostertag-Haus, Zentrum für Infektionsmedizin, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13, 14163, Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia Bohner
- Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marion L East
- Department of Ecological Dynamics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eva Maria Greunz
- Center for Zoo and Wild Animal Health, Copenhagen Zoo, Roskildevej 38, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- Parc Zoologique de Thoiry, Rue du Pavillon de Montreuil, 78770, Thoiry, France
| | - Petra Kaczensky
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Savoyenstrasse 1, A-1160, Vienna, Austria
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research - NINA, Sluppen, NO-7485, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Benjamin Lamglait
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 Rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, J2S 2N4, Canada
- Réserve Africaine de Sigean, 19 Chemin Hameau du Lac, RD 6009, 11130, Sigean, France
| | - Jörg Melzheimer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kenneth Uiseb
- Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Private Bag 13301, Windhoek, Namibia
| | - Alix Ortega
- Réserve Africaine de Sigean, 19 Chemin Hameau du Lac, RD 6009, 11130, Sigean, France
| | - Nikolaus Osterrieder
- Institut für Virologie, Robert von Ostertag-Haus, Zentrum für Infektionsmedizin, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13, 14163, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Marie Simon
- Parc Zoologique de Thoiry, Rue du Pavillon de Montreuil, 78770, Thoiry, France
| | - Chris Walzer
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Savoyenstrasse 1, A-1160, Vienna, Austria
- Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd., 10460, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Oertzenweg 19, Berlin, 14163, Germany
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Ruoss S, Becker NI, Otto MS, Czirják GÁ, Encarnação JA. Effect of sex and reproductive status on the immunity of the temperate bat Myotis daubentonii. Mamm Biol 2018; 94:120-126. [PMID: 32218715 PMCID: PMC7091572 DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2018.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Studies of immunity in bat species are rare. However, it is important to determine immunological variations to identify factors influencing the health status of these endangered mammals from an evolutionary, ecological, conservation, and public health point of view. Immunity is highly variable and can be influenced by both internal (e.g. hormone levels, energy demand) and external factors (e.g. pathogens, climate). As bats have some peculiar ecological, energetic, and putative immunological characteristics, they are outstanding study organisms for ecoimmunological studies. We tested if (i) female bats have a higher immunity than males similar to most other mammalian species and (ii) individuals differ according to their energy demand (e.g. reproductive status). To study these questions, we sampled female and male Myotis daubentonii with different reproductive states and estimated their bacterial killing activity, hemolysis/hemagglutination titer, immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, and total and differential white blood cell counts. These methods characterize the cellular and humoral branches of both the adaptive and the innate immune responses of these individuals. Reproductively active males had lower cellular immunity compared to non-reproductive individuals. Pregnant females had increased IgG concentrations while hemolysis was enhanced during lactation. No clear trade-off between immunity and reproduction was found; instead immunity of males and female bats seems to be modulated differently due to varying hormonal and energetic states. Our data suggest that both adaptive and innate immunity as well as individual differences (i.e. sex and reproductive state) need to be considered to get a comprehensive overall picture of immunity in wild mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ruoss
- Mammalian Ecology Group, Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26 (IFZ), 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Nina I. Becker
- Institute for Applied Animal Ecology and Ecoinformatics (inatu.re), Im Brühl 2, 35457 Lollar, Germany
| | - Matthias S. Otto
- Mammalian Ecology Group, Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26 (IFZ), 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jorge A. Encarnação
- Mammalian Ecology Group, Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26 (IFZ), 35392 Giessen, Germany
- Institute for Applied Animal Ecology and Ecoinformatics (inatu.re), Im Brühl 2, 35457 Lollar, Germany
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Becker DJ, Czirják GÁ, Volokhov DV, Bentz AB, Carrera JE, Camus MS, Navara KJ, Chizhikov VE, Fenton MB, Simmons NB, Recuenco SE, Gilbert AT, Altizer S, Streicker DG. Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles and bacterial infection risk. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170089. [PMID: 29531144 PMCID: PMC5882995 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activities create novel food resources that can alter wildlife-pathogen interactions. If resources amplify or dampen, pathogen transmission probably depends on both host ecology and pathogen biology, but studies that measure responses to provisioning across both scales are rare. We tested these relationships with a 4-year study of 369 common vampire bats across 10 sites in Peru and Belize that differ in the abundance of livestock, an important anthropogenic food source. We quantified innate and adaptive immunity from bats and assessed infection with two common bacteria. We predicted that abundant livestock could reduce starvation and foraging effort, allowing for greater investments in immunity. Bats from high-livestock sites had higher microbicidal activity and proportions of neutrophils but lower immunoglobulin G and proportions of lymphocytes, suggesting more investment in innate relative to adaptive immunity and either greater chronic stress or pathogen exposure. This relationship was most pronounced in reproductive bats, which were also more common in high-livestock sites, suggesting feedbacks between demographic correlates of provisioning and immunity. Infection with both Bartonella and haemoplasmas were correlated with similar immune profiles, and both pathogens tended to be less prevalent in high-livestock sites, although effects were weaker for haemoplasmas. These differing responses to provisioning might therefore reflect distinct transmission processes. Predicting how provisioning alters host-pathogen interactions requires considering how both within-host processes and transmission modes respond to resource shifts.This article is part of the theme issue 'Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host-parasite dynamics in wildlife'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Becker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Dmitriy V Volokhov
- Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Alexandra B Bentz
- Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Jorge E Carrera
- Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Perú
- Programa de Conservación de Murciélagos de Perú, Piura, Perú
| | - Melinda S Camus
- Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Kristen J Navara
- Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Vladimir E Chizhikov
- Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - M Brock Fenton
- Department of Biology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nancy B Simmons
- Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sergio E Recuenco
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
| | - Amy T Gilbert
- National Wildlife Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Sonia Altizer
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Daniel G Streicker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow, UK
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Treu G, Krone O, Unnsteinsdóttir ER, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Correlations between hair and tissue mercury concentrations in Icelandic arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus). Sci Total Environ 2018; 619-620:1589-1598. [PMID: 29107366 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 10/14/2017] [Accepted: 10/14/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring organic pollutants in wildlife is a common approach to evaluate environmental health, chemical exposure and to make hazard assessments. However, pollutant concentrations measured from different tissue types among studies impede direct comparisons of levels and toxicity benchmarks among species and regions. For example, mercury (Hg) is a metal of both natural and anthropogenic origin which poses health risks for marine and arctic biota in particular. Although hair is recognized as the least invasive sample type for Hg exposure measurement in wildlife, measurements in previous studies have used different tissues among individuals and species. This lack of tissue type consistency hinders cross study comparisons. Therefore to systematically evaluate the use of hair in ecotoxicological studies, total mercury (THg) concentrations measured from hair were compared to values obtained from liver and kidney in 35 Icelandic arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus). THg concentrations varied considerably among tissues with hair and kidney levels generally lower than in liver. Nevertheless, significant correlations among tissue types were observed. THg values in hair were predictive for liver (R2=0.61) and kidney THg levels (R2=0.51) and liver values were a good predictor of THg in kidney (R2=0.77). We provide further evidence that non-invasively collected hair samples reflect the THg levels of internal tissues. We present equations derived from multiple linear regression models that can be used to relate THg levels among tissue types in order to extrapolate THg values from hair to soft tissues. Using these equations, we compare the results of previous studies monitoring THg levels in different tissues of arctic foxes from various regions of the Arctic. Our findings support that hair is a suitable sample matrix for ecotoxicological studies of arctic predators and may be applied in both wildlife welfare and conservation contexts for arctic vulpine species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Treu
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Oliver Krone
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Alex D Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany; Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany.
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38
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Seltmann A, Corman VM, Rasche A, Drosten C, Czirják GÁ, Bernard H, Struebig MJ, Voigt CC. Seasonal Fluctuations of Astrovirus, But Not Coronavirus Shedding in Bats Inhabiting Human-Modified Tropical Forests. Ecohealth 2017; 14:272-284. [PMID: 28500421 PMCID: PMC7087689 DOI: 10.1007/s10393-017-1245-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Revised: 04/06/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are considered a major threat to global health. Most EIDs appear to result from increased contact between wildlife and humans, especially when humans encroach into formerly pristine habitats. Habitat deterioration may also negatively affect the physiology and health of wildlife species, which may eventually lead to a higher susceptibility to infectious agents and/or increased shedding of the pathogens causing EIDs. Bats are known to host viruses closely related to important EIDs. Here, we tested in a paleotropical forest with ongoing logging and fragmentation, whether habitat disturbance influences the occurrence of astro- and coronaviruses in eight bat species. In contrast to our hypothesis, anthropogenic habitat disturbance was not associated with corona- and astrovirus detection rates in fecal samples. However, we found that bats infected with either astro- or coronaviruses were likely to be coinfected with the respective other virus. Additionally, we identified two more risk factors influencing astrovirus shedding. First, the detection rate of astroviruses was higher at the beginning of the rainy compared to the dry season. Second, there was a trend that individuals with a poor body condition had a higher probability of shedding astroviruses in their feces. The identification of risk factors for increased viral shedding that may potentially result in increased interspecies transmission is important to prevent viral spillovers from bats to other animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Seltmann
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany.
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Victor M Corman
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research, partner site Bonn-Cologne, Bonn, Germany
| | - Andrea Rasche
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research, partner site Bonn-Cologne, Bonn, Germany
| | - Christian Drosten
- Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127, Bonn, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research, partner site Bonn-Cologne, Bonn, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Henry Bernard
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - Matthew J Struebig
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Christian C Voigt
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, 14195, Berlin, Germany
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Becker DJ, Chumchal MM, Bentz AB, Platt SG, Czirják GÁ, Rainwater TR, Altizer S, Streicker DG. Predictors and immunological correlates of sublethal mercury exposure in vampire bats. R Soc Open Sci 2017; 4:170073. [PMID: 28484633 PMCID: PMC5414270 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is a pervasive heavy metal that often enters the environment from anthropogenic sources such as gold mining and agriculture. Chronic exposure to Hg can impair immune function, reducing the ability of animals to resist or recover from infections. How Hg influences immunity and susceptibility remains unknown for bats, which appear immunologically distinct from other mammals and are reservoir hosts of many pathogens of importance to human and animal health. We here quantify total Hg (THg) in hair collected from common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), which feed on blood and are the main reservoir hosts of rabies virus in Latin America. We examine how diet, sampling site and year, and bat demography influence THg and test the consequences of this variation for eight immune measures. In two populations from Belize, THg concentrations in bats were best explained by an interaction between long-term diet inferred from stable isotopes and year. Bats that foraged more consistently on domestic animals exhibited higher THg. However, relationships between diet and THg were evident only in 2015 but not in 2014, which could reflect recent environmental perturbations associated with agriculture. THg concentrations were low relative to values previously observed in other bat species but still correlated with bat immunity. Bats with higher THg had more neutrophils, weaker bacterial killing ability and impaired innate immunity. These patterns suggest that temporal variation in Hg exposure may impair bat innate immunity and increase susceptibility to pathogens such as bacteria. Unexpected associations between low-level Hg exposure and immune function underscore the need to better understand the environmental sources of Hg exposure in bats and the consequences for bat immunity and susceptibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J. Becker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- e-mail:
| | | | | | - Steven G. Platt
- Wildlife Conservation Society, Myanmar Program, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas R. Rainwater
- Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center and Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Georgetown, SC, USA
| | - Sonia Altizer
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Center for the Ecology of Infectious Disease, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Daniel G. Streicker
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
- MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
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Heinrich SK, Hofer H, Courtiol A, Melzheimer J, Dehnhard M, Czirják GÁ, Wachter B. Cheetahs have a stronger constitutive innate immunity than leopards. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44837. [PMID: 28333126 PMCID: PMC5363065 DOI: 10.1038/srep44837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
As a textbook case for the importance of genetics in conservation, absence of genetic variability at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is thought to endanger species viability, since it is considered crucial for pathogen resistance. An alternative view of the immune system inspired by life history theory posits that a strong response should evolve in other components of the immune system if there is little variation in the MHC. In contrast to the leopard (Panthera pardus), the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has a relatively low genetic variability at the MHC, yet free-ranging cheetahs are healthy. By comparing the functional competence of the humoral immune system of both species in sympatric populations in Namibia, we demonstrate that cheetahs have a higher constitutive innate but lower induced innate and adaptive immunity than leopards. We conclude (1) immunocompetence of cheetahs is higher than previously thought; (2) studying both innate and adaptive components of immune systems will enrich conservation science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja K. Heinrich
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Heribert Hofer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jörg Melzheimer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Dehnhard
- Department of Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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Seltmann A, Czirják GÁ, Courtiol A, Bernard H, Struebig MJ, Voigt CC. Habitat disturbance results in chronic stress and impaired health status in forest-dwelling paleotropical bats. Conserv Physiol 2017; 5:cox020. [PMID: 28421138 PMCID: PMC5388297 DOI: 10.1093/conphys/cox020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2016] [Revised: 02/16/2017] [Accepted: 03/09/2017] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic habitat disturbance is a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. Yet, before population declines are detectable, individuals may suffer from chronic stress and impaired immunity in disturbed habitats, making them more susceptible to pathogens and adverse weather conditions. Here, we tested in a paleotropical forest with ongoing logging and fragmentation, whether habitat disturbance influences the body mass and immunity of bats. We measured and compared body mass, chronic stress (indicated by neutrophil to lymphocyte ratios) and the number of circulating immune cells between several bat species with different roost types living in recovering areas, actively logged forests, and fragmented forests in Sabah, Malaysia. In a cave-roosting species, chronic stress levels were higher in individuals from fragmented habitats compared with conspecifics from actively logged areas. Foliage-roosting species showed a reduced body mass and decrease in total white blood cell counts in actively logged areas and fragmented forests compared with conspecifics living in recovering habitats. Our study highlights that habitat disturbance may have species-specific effects on chronic stress and immunity in bats that are potentially related to the roost type. We identified foliage-roosting species as particularly sensitive to forest habitat deterioration. These species may face a heightened extinction risk in the near future if anthropogenic habitat alterations continue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Seltmann
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Corresponding author: Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany. Tel: +49-30-5168-326; fax: +49-30-5126-104.
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Henry Bernard
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - Matthew J. Struebig
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Christian C. Voigt
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustr. 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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Heinrich SK, Wachter B, Aschenborn OHK, Thalwitzer S, Melzheimer J, Hofer H, Czirják GÁ. Feliform carnivores have a distinguished constitutive innate immune response. Biol Open 2016; 5:550-5. [PMID: 27044323 PMCID: PMC4874346 DOI: 10.1242/bio.014902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Determining the immunological phenotype of endangered and threatened populations is important to identify those vulnerable to novel pathogens. Among mammals, members of the order Carnivora are particularly threatened by diseases. We therefore examined the constitutive innate immune system, the first line of protection against invading microbes, of six free-ranging carnivore species; the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), the brown hyena (Hyena brunnea), the caracal (Caracal caracal), the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), the leopard (Panthera pardus) and the lion (Panthera leo) using a bacterial killing assay. The differences in immune responses amongst the six species were independent of their foraging behaviour, body mass or social organisation but reflected their phylogenetic relatedness. The bacterial killing capacity of black-backed jackals, a member of the suborder Caniformia, followed the pattern established for a wide variety of vertebrates. In contrast, the five representatives of the suborder Feliformia demonstrated a killing capacity at least an order of magnitude higher than any species reported previously, with a particularly high capacity in caracals and cheetahs. Our results suggest that the immunocompetence of threatened felids such as the cheetah has been underestimated and its assessment ought to consider both innate and adaptive components of the immune system. Summary: The innate immunocompetence of six free-ranging carnivores is independent of their foraging behaviour, body mass or social organisation but reflects their phylogenetic relatedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja K Heinrich
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Bettina Wachter
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Ortwin H K Aschenborn
- Bwabwata Ecological Institute, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Zambezi, Namibia
| | - Susanne Thalwitzer
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Jörg Melzheimer
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Heribert Hofer
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin 10315, Germany
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Morand S, Bordes F, Chen HW, Claude J, Cosson JF, Galan M, Czirják GÁ, Greenwood AD, Latinne A, Michaux J, Ribas A. Global parasite and Rattus rodent invasions: The consequences for rodent-borne diseases. Integr Zool 2016; 10:409-23. [PMID: 26037785 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
We summarize the current knowledge on parasitism-related invasion processes of the globally invasive Rattus lineages, originating from Asia, and how these invasions have impacted the local epidemiology of rodent-borne diseases. Parasites play an important role in the invasion processes and successes of their hosts through multiple biological mechanisms such as "parasite release," "immunocompetence advantage," "biotic resistance" and "novel weapon." Parasites may also greatly increase the impact of invasions by spillover of parasites and other pathogens, introduced with invasive hosts, into new hosts, potentially leading to novel emerging diseases. Another potential impact is the ability of the invader to amplify local parasites by spillback. In both cases, local fauna and humans may be exposed to new health risks, which may decrease biodiversity and potentially cause increases in human morbidity and mortality. Here we review the current knowledge on these processes and propose some research priorities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serge Morand
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) Animal et Gestion Intégrée des Risques, Centre d'Infectiologie Christophe Mérieux du Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR.,Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Frédéric Bordes
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France
| | - Hsuan-Wien Chen
- Department of Biological Resources, National Chiayi University, Chiayi City, Taiwan, China
| | - Julien Claude
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France
| | - Jean-François Cosson
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Centre de Biologie et de Gestion des Populations, Baillarguet, France.,Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), UMR Biologie et Immunologie Parasitaire Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail ses, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Maxime Galan
- Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Centre de Biologie et de Gestion des Populations, Baillarguet, France
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Department of Wildlife Diseases, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alice Latinne
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France.,Conservation Genetics Unit, University of Liège 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Johan Michaux
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) Animal et Gestion Intégrée des Risques, Centre d'Infectiologie Christophe Mérieux du Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR.,Conservation Genetics Unit, University of Liège 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Alexis Ribas
- Biodiversity Research Group, Faculty of Science, Udon Thani Rajabhat University, Udon Thani, Thailand
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Hecht AM, Braun BC, Krause E, Voigt CC, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Plasma proteomic analysis of active and torpid greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis). Sci Rep 2015; 5:16604. [PMID: 26586174 PMCID: PMC4653738 DOI: 10.1038/srep16604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2015] [Accepted: 10/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Hibernation is a physiological adaptation to overcome extreme environmental conditions. It is characterized by prolonged periods of torpor interrupted by temporary arousals during winter. During torpor, body functions are suppressed and restored rapidly to almost pre-hibernation levels during arousal. Although molecular studies have been performed on hibernating rodents and bears, it is unclear how generalizable the results are among hibernating species with different physiology such as bats. As targeted blood proteomic analysis are lacking in small hibernators, we investigated the general plasma proteomic profile of European Myotis myotis and hibernation associated changes between torpid and active individuals by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Results revealed an alternation of proteins involved in transport, fuel switching, innate immunity and blood coagulation between the two physiological states. The results suggest that metabolic changes during hibernation are associated with plasma proteomic changes. Further characterization of the proteomic plasma profile identified transport proteins, coagulation proteins and complement factors and detected a high abundance of alpha-fetoprotein. We were able to establish for the first time a basic myotid bat plasma proteomic profile and further demonstrated a modulated protein expression during torpor in Myotis myotis, indicating both novel physiological pathways in bats in general, and during hibernation in particular.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M. Hecht
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Beate C. Braun
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Eberhard Krause
- Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Robert-Rössle-Straße 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian C. Voigt
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alex D. Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Oertzenweg 19b, 14163 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Straße 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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Abdelgawad A, Hermes R, Damiani A, Lamglait B, Czirják GÁ, East M, Aschenborn O, Wenker C, Kasem S, Osterrieder N, Greenwood AD. Comprehensive Serology Based on a Peptide ELISA to Assess the Prevalence of Closely Related Equine Herpesviruses in Zoo and Wild Animals. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0138370. [PMID: 26378452 PMCID: PMC4574707 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 08/28/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) causes respiratory disorders and abortion in equids while EHV-1 regularly causes equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM), a stroke-like syndrome following endothelial cell infection in horses. Both EHV-1 and EHV-9 infections of non-definitive hosts often result in neuronal infection and high case fatality rates. Hence, EHV-1 and EHV-9 are somewhat unusual herpesviruses and lack strict host specificity, and the true extent of their host ranges have remained unclear. In order to determine the seroprevalence of EHV-1 and EHV-9, a sensitive and specific peptide-based ELISA was developed and applied to 428 sera from captive and wild animals representing 30 species in 12 families and five orders. Members of the Equidae, Rhinocerotidae and Bovidae were serologically positive for EHV-1 and EHV-9. The prevalence of EHV-1 in the sampled wild zebra populations was significantly higher than in zoos suggesting captivity may reduce exposure to EHV-1. Furthermore, the seroprevalence for EHV-1 was significantly higher than for EHV-9 in zebras. In contrast, EHV-9 antibody prevalence was high in captive and wild African rhinoceros species suggesting that they may serve as a reservoir or natural host for EHV-9. Thus, EHV-1 and EHV-9 have a broad host range favoring African herbivores and may have acquired novel natural hosts in ecosystems where wild equids are common and are in close contact with other perissodactyls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azza Abdelgawad
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Robert Hermes
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Armando Damiani
- Institut für Virologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Benjamin Lamglait
- Réserve Africaine de Sigean, 19 chemin du hameau du lac, Sigean, France
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marion East
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | | | | | - Samy Kasem
- Virology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt
| | | | - Alex D. Greenwood
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
- * E-mail:
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46
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Prüss H, Leubner J, Wenke NK, Czirják GÁ, Szentiks CA, Greenwood AD. Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis in the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Knut. Sci Rep 2015; 5:12805. [PMID: 26313569 PMCID: PMC4551079 DOI: 10.1038/srep12805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/06/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Knut the polar bear of the Berlin Zoological Garden drowned in 2011 following seizures and was diagnosed as having suffered encephalitis of unknown etiology after exhaustive pathogen screening. Using the diagnostic criteria applied to human patients, we demonstrate that Knut’s encephalitis is almost identical to anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis which is a severe autoimmune disease representing the most common non-infectious encephalitis in humans. High concentrations of antibodies specific against the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor were detected in Knut’s cerebrospinal fluid. Histological examination demonstrated very similar patterns of plasma cell infiltration and minimal neuronal loss in affected brain areas. We conclude that Knut suffered anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis making his the first reported non-human case of this treatable disease. The results suggest that anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis may be a disease of broad relevance to mammals that until now has remained undiagnosed.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Prüss
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - J Leubner
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Germany
| | - N K Wenke
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Berlin, Germany
| | - G Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - C A Szentiks
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - A D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
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Abstract
The general development of immune response in the short and long term is a product of the antigenic environment in which a species resides. Colonization of a novel antigenic environment by a species would be expected to alter the immune system. Animals that successfully adapt their immune responses will successfully colonize new locations. However, founder events associated with colonization by limited numbers of individuals from a source population will constrain adaptability. How these contradicting forces shape immunity in widely distributed species is unknown. The western house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) spread globally from the Indo-Pakistani cradle, often in association with human migration and settlement. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that wild-derived outbred laboratory populations of house mice from their original range (Iran) and historically recent European invasive populations (from France and Germany) present differences in immune functional diversity corresponding to recent historical founder events in Europe and movement to novel antigenic environments. We found that (1) European mice had lower total white blood cell (WBC) counts but higher immunoglobulin E concentrations than their Iranian counterparts, and (2) there were no significant differences in the measured immunological parameters among European populations. The results indicate that founder events in European mice and selection pressure exerted by the composition of local parasitic helminth communities underlie the observed patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jundong Tian
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163, Berlin, Germany
| | - Heribert Hofer
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alex D Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, 10315, Berlin, Germany.
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48
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Johnson JS, Reeder DM, Lilley TM, Czirják GÁ, Voigt CC, McMichael JW, Meierhofer MB, Seery CW, Lumadue SS, Altmann AJ, Toro MO, Field KA. Antibodies to Pseudogymnoascus destructans are not sufficient for protection against white-nose syndrome. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:2203-14. [PMID: 26078857 PMCID: PMC4461422 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2015] [Accepted: 03/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) that affects bats during hibernation. Although millions of bats have died from WNS in North America, mass mortality has not been observed among European bats infected by the fungus, leading to the suggestion that bats in Europe are immune. We tested the hypothesis that an antibody-mediated immune response can provide protection against WNS by quantifying antibodies reactive to Pd in blood samples from seven species of free-ranging bats in North America and two free-ranging species in Europe. We also quantified antibodies in blood samples from little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) that were part of a captive colony that we injected with live Pd spores mixed with adjuvant, as well as individuals surviving a captive Pd infection trial. Seroprevalence of antibodies against Pd, as well as antibody titers, was greater among little brown myotis than among four other species of cave-hibernating bats in North America, including species with markedly lower WNS mortality rates. Among little brown myotis, the greatest titers occurred in populations occupying regions with longer histories of WNS, where bats lacked secondary symptoms of WNS. We detected antibodies cross-reactive with Pd among little brown myotis naïve to the fungus. We observed high titers among captive little brown myotis injected with Pd. We did not detect antibodies against Pd in Pd-infected European bats during winter, and titers during the active season were lower than among little brown myotis. These results show that antibody-mediated immunity cannot explain survival of European bats infected with Pd and that little brown myotis respond differently to Pd than species with higher WNS survival rates. Although it appears that some species of bats in North America may be developing resistance to WNS, an antibody-mediated immune response does not provide an explanation for these remnant populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph S Johnson
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
| | - DeeAnn M Reeder
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
| | | | - Gábor Á Czirják
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research Berlin, Germany
| | | | - James W McMichael
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
| | | | | | - Shayne S Lumadue
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
| | | | - Michael O Toro
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
| | - Kenneth A Field
- Department of Biology, Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, 17837
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Tian J, Courtiol A, Schneeberger K, Greenwood AD, Czirják GÁ. Circulating white blood cell counts in captive and wild rodents are influenced by body mass rather than testes mass, a correlate of mating promiscuity. Funct Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jundong Tian
- Department of Wildlife Diseases Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research 10315 Berlin Germany
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany
| | - Alexandre Courtiol
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research 10315 Berlin Germany
| | - Karin Schneeberger
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research 10315 Berlin Germany
| | - Alex D. Greenwood
- Department of Wildlife Diseases Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research 10315 Berlin Germany
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Freie Universität Berlin 14163 Berlin Germany
| | - Gábor Á. Czirják
- Department of Wildlife Diseases Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research 10315 Berlin Germany
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50
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Schneeberger K, Czirják GÁ, Voigt CC. Inflammatory challenge increases measures of oxidative stress in a free-ranging, long-lived mammal. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 216:4514-9. [PMID: 24031067 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.090837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Oxidative stress - the imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neutralising antioxidants - has been under debate as the main cause of ageing in aerobial organisms. The level of ROS should increase during infection as part of the activation of an immune response, leading to oxidative damage to proteins, lipids and DNA. Yet, it is unknown how long-lived organisms, especially mammals, cope with oxidative stress. Bats are known to carry a variety of zoonotic pathogens and at the same time are, despite their high mass-specific basal metabolic rate, unusually long lived, which may be partly the result of low oxidative damage of organs. Here, we asked whether an immune challenge causes oxidative stress in free-ranging bats, measuring two oxidative stress markers. We injected 20 short-tailed fruit bats (Carollia perspicillata) with bacterially derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 20 individuals with phosphate-buffered saline solution (PBS) as a control. Individuals injected with LPS showed an immune reaction by increased white blood cell count after 24 h, whereas there was no significant change in leukocyte count in control animals. The biological antioxidant potential (BAP) remained the same in both groups, but reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) increased after treatment with LPS, indicating a significant increase in oxidative stress in animals when mounting an immune reaction toward the inflammatory challenge. Control individuals did not show a change in oxidative stress markers. We conclude that in a long-lived mammal, even high concentrations of antioxidants do not immediately neutralise free radicals produced during a cellular immune response. Thus, fighting an infection may lead to oxidative stress in bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Schneeberger
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Strasse 17, 10315 Berlin, Germany
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