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Effects of invasion history on physiological responses to immune system activation in invasive Australian cane toads

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posted on 2017-10-06, 00:00 authored by D Selechnik, Andrea West, G P Brown, Kerry FansonKerry Fanson, Brianne AddisonBrianne Addison, Lee Rollins, R Shine
The cane toad (Rhinella marina) has undergone rapid evolution during its invasion of tropical Australia. Toads from invasion front populations (in Western Australia) have been reported to exhibit a stronger baseline phagocytic immune response than do conspecifics from range core populations (in Queensland). To explore this difference, we injected wild-caught toads from both areas with the experimental antigen lipopolysaccharide (LPS, to mimic bacterial infection) and measured whole-blood phagocytosis. Because the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is stimulated by infection (and may influence immune responses), we measured glucocorticoid response through urinary corticosterone levels. Relative to injection of a control (phosphate-buffered saline), LPS injection increased both phagocytosis and the proportion of neutrophils in the blood. However, responses were similar in toads from both populations. This null result may reflect the ubiquity of bacterial risks across the toad's invaded range; utilization of this immune pathway may not have altered during the process of invasion. LPS injection also induced a reduction in urinary corticosterone levels, perhaps as a result of chronic stress.

History

Journal

PeerJ

Volume

5

Article number

e3856

Pagination

1 - 19

Publisher

PeerJ

Location

London, Eng.

eISSN

2167-8359

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, The Authors