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Metamorphosis and immunity : Links between larval and adult immune strategies in Drosophila melanogaster| old_uid | 8162 |
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| title | Metamorphosis and immunity : Links between larval and adult immune strategies in Drosophila melanogaster |
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| start_date | 2010/02/12 |
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| schedule | 11h |
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| online | no |
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| summary | The different life stages of animals with metamorphosis are usually studied separately. This is especially true when it comes to parasitism in insects. For example, the ability of adult insects to defeat pathogens is almost always considered as a property of the adult only; we thus neglect the potential influence of the larval stage on adult immunity. If it can make practical sense to assume the independence of larval and adult immunities, identifying the links between the phenotypes of larvae and adults could unveil unknown determinants of the dynamics of host-parasite systems. I will report on a series of experiments targeted at investigating the covariation of larval and adult immune strategies. Studying gene-expression in Drosophila melanogaster, we found some surprising, and some expected, relationships between larval and adult immunities. Our results have consequences for the epidemiology and the evolution of insect-pathogen interactions. |
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| responsibles | Lebreton |
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