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Impact of nest sanitation on the immune system of parents and nestlings in a passerine bird

Version 2 2024-06-03, 07:21
Version 1 2016-05-06, 13:41
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 07:21 authored by JK Evans, SC Griffith, KKC Klasing, Kate BuchananKate Buchanan
Bacterial communities are thought to have fundamental effects on the growth and development of nestling birds. The antigen exposure hypothesis suggests that, for both nestlings and adult birds, exposure to a diverse range of bacteria would select for stronger immune defences. However, there are relatively few studies that have tested the immune/bacterial relationships outside of domestic poultry. We therefore sought to examine indices of immunity (microbial killing ability in naïve birds, which is a measure of innate immunity and the antibody response to sheep red blood cells, which measures adaptive immunity) in both adult and nestling zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We did this throughout breeding and between reproductive attempts in nests that were experimentally manipulated to change the intensity of bacterial exposure. Our results suggest that nest sanitation and bacterial load affected measures of the adaptive immune system, but not the innate immune parameters tested. Adult finches breeding in clean nests had a lower primary antibody response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), particularly males, and a greater difference between primary and secondary responses. Adult microbial killing of E.coli decreased as parents moved from incubation to nestling rearing for both nest treatments; however, killing of C.albicans remained consistent throughout. In nestlings, both innate microbial killing and the adaptive antibody response did not differ between nest environments. Together, these results suggest that the exposure to microorganisms in the environment affect the adaptive immune system in nesting birds, with exposure upregulating the antibody response in adult birds.

History

Journal

Journal of Experimental Biology

Volume

219

Pagination

1985-1993

Location

England

ISSN

0022-0949

eISSN

1477-9145

Language

English

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, The Company of Biologists

Issue

13

Publisher

COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD