Evidence for trans-generational medication in nature |
| |
Authors: | Lefèvre Thierry Oliver Lindsay Hunter Mark D De Roode Jacobus C |
| |
Institution: | Biology Department, Emory University, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. telefev@emory.edu |
| |
Abstract: | Parasites pose a serious threat to host fitness, and natural selection should favour host traits that reduce infection or disease symptoms. Here, we provide the first evidence of trans-generational medication, in which animals actively use medicine to mitigate disease in their offspring. We studied monarch butterflies and their virulent protozoan parasites, and found that neither caterpillars nor adult butterflies could cure themselves of disease. Instead, adult butterflies preferentially laid their eggs on toxic plants that reduced parasite growth and disease in their offspring caterpillars. It has often been suggested that sick animals may use medication to cure themselves of disease, but evidence for the use of medication in nature has so far been scarce. Our results provide evidence that infected animals may indeed use medicine as a defence against parasites, and that such medication may target an individual's offspring rather than the individual itself. |
| |
Keywords: | Host–parasite ecology monarch butterfly Ophryocystis elektroscirrha self‐medication tritrophic interactions |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|