---
_id: '10284'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Infections early in life can have enduring effects on an organism's development
    and immunity. In this study, we show that this equally applies to developing ‘superorganisms’––incipient
    social insect colonies. When we exposed newly mated Lasius niger ant queens to
    a low pathogen dose, their colonies grew more slowly than controls before winter,
    but reached similar sizes afterwards. Independent of exposure, queen hibernation
    survival improved when the ratio of pupae to workers was small. Queens that reared
    fewer pupae before worker emergence exhibited lower pathogen levels, indicating
    that high brood rearing efforts interfere with the ability of the queen's immune
    system to suppress pathogen proliferation. Early-life queen pathogen exposure
    also improved the immunocompetence of her worker offspring, as demonstrated by
    challenging the workers to the same pathogen a year later. Transgenerational transfer
    of the queen's pathogen experience to her workforce can hence durably reduce the
    disease susceptibility of the whole superorganism.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: ScienComp
acknowledgement: The authors are grateful to G. Tkačik and V. Mireles for advice on
  data analyses and to A. Schloegl for help using the IST Austria HPC cluster for
  data processing. The authors thank J. Eilenberg for providing the fungal strain
  and A.V. Grasse for support with the molecular analysis. The authors also thank
  the Social Immunity group at IST Austria, in particular B. Milutinović, for discussions
  throughout and comments on the manuscript.
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Barbara E
  full_name: Casillas Perez, Barbara E
  id: 351ED2AA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Casillas Perez
- first_name: Christopher
  full_name: Pull, Christopher
  id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Pull
  orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982
- first_name: Filip
  full_name: Naiser, Filip
  last_name: Naiser
- first_name: Elisabeth
  full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
  id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Jiri
  full_name: Matas, Jiri
  last_name: Matas
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Casillas Perez BE, Pull C, Naiser F, Naderlinger E, Matas J, Cremer S. Early
    queen infection shapes developmental dynamics and induces long-term disease protection
    in incipient ant colonies. <i>Ecology Letters</i>. 2022;25(1):89-100. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907">10.1111/ele.13907</a>
  apa: Casillas Perez, B. E., Pull, C., Naiser, F., Naderlinger, E., Matas, J., &#38;
    Cremer, S. (2022). Early queen infection shapes developmental dynamics and induces
    long-term disease protection in incipient ant colonies. <i>Ecology Letters</i>.
    Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907">https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907</a>
  chicago: Casillas Perez, Barbara E, Christopher Pull, Filip Naiser, Elisabeth Naderlinger,
    Jiri Matas, and Sylvia Cremer. “Early Queen Infection Shapes Developmental Dynamics
    and Induces Long-Term Disease Protection in Incipient Ant Colonies.” <i>Ecology
    Letters</i>. Wiley, 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907">https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907</a>.
  ieee: B. E. Casillas Perez, C. Pull, F. Naiser, E. Naderlinger, J. Matas, and S.
    Cremer, “Early queen infection shapes developmental dynamics and induces long-term
    disease protection in incipient ant colonies,” <i>Ecology Letters</i>, vol. 25,
    no. 1. Wiley, pp. 89–100, 2022.
  ista: Casillas Perez BE, Pull C, Naiser F, Naderlinger E, Matas J, Cremer S. 2022.
    Early queen infection shapes developmental dynamics and induces long-term disease
    protection in incipient ant colonies. Ecology Letters. 25(1), 89–100.
  mla: Casillas Perez, Barbara E., et al. “Early Queen Infection Shapes Developmental
    Dynamics and Induces Long-Term Disease Protection in Incipient Ant Colonies.”
    <i>Ecology Letters</i>, vol. 25, no. 1, Wiley, 2022, pp. 89–100, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13907">10.1111/ele.13907</a>.
  short: B.E. Casillas Perez, C. Pull, F. Naiser, E. Naderlinger, J. Matas, S. Cremer,
    Ecology Letters 25 (2022) 89–100.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2021-11-14T23:01:25Z
date_published: 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-04-14T13:55:31Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '573'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1111/ele.13907
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000713396100001'
  pmid:
  - '34725912'
file:
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  checksum: 0bd4210400e9876609b7c538ab4f9a3c
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: cchlebak
  date_created: 2022-02-03T13:37:11Z
  date_updated: 2022-02-03T13:37:11Z
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  file_size: 700087
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  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2022-02-03T13:37:11Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        25'
isi: 1
issue: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '01'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 89-100
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '771402'
  name: Epidemics in ant societies on a chip
publication: Ecology Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1461-0248
  issn:
  - 1461-023X
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
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scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Early queen infection shapes developmental dynamics and induces long-term disease
  protection in incipient ant colonies
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 4359f0d1-fa6c-11eb-b949-802e58b17ae8
volume: 25
year: '2022'
...
---
_id: '13060'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Coinfections with multiple pathogens can result in complex within-host dynamics
    affecting virulence and transmission. Whilst multiple infections are intensively
    studied in solitary hosts, it is so far unresolved how social host interactions
    interfere with pathogen competition, and if this depends on coinfection diversity.
    We studied how the collective disease defenses of ants – their social immunity
    ­– influence pathogen competition in coinfections of same or different fungal
    pathogen species. Social immunity reduced virulence for all pathogen combinations,
    but interfered with spore production only in different-species coinfections. Here,
    it decreased overall pathogen sporulation success, whilst simultaneously increasing
    co-sporulation on individual cadavers and maintaining a higher pathogen diversity
    at the community-level. Mathematical modeling revealed that host sanitary care
    alone can modulate competitive outcomes between pathogens, giving advantage to
    fast-germinating, thus less grooming-sensitive ones. Host social interactions
    can hence modulate infection dynamics in coinfected group members, thereby altering
    pathogen communities at the host- and population-level.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Barbara
  full_name: Milutinovic, Barbara
  id: 2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Milutinovic
  orcid: 0000-0002-8214-4758
- first_name: Miriam
  full_name: Stock, Miriam
  id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Stock
- first_name: Anna V
  full_name: Grasse, Anna V
  id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Elisabeth
  full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
  id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Christian
  full_name: Hilbe, Christian
  id: 2FDF8F3C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Hilbe
  orcid: 0000-0001-5116-955X
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. Social
    immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. 2020. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318">10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318</a>
  apa: Milutinovic, B., Stock, M., Grasse, A. V., Naderlinger, E., Hilbe, C., &#38;
    Cremer, S. (2020). Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.
    Dryad. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318">https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318</a>
  chicago: Milutinovic, Barbara, Miriam Stock, Anna V Grasse, Elisabeth Naderlinger,
    Christian Hilbe, and Sylvia Cremer. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
    Coinfecting Pathogens.” Dryad, 2020. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318">https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318</a>.
  ieee: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A. V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, and S. Cremer,
    “Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.” Dryad,
    2020.
  ista: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. 2020.
    Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens, Dryad, <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318">10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318</a>.
  mla: Milutinovic, Barbara, et al. <i>Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
    Coinfecting Pathogens</i>. Dryad, 2020, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318">10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318</a>.
  short: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A.V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, S. Cremer,
    (2020).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2023-05-23T16:11:22Z
date_published: 2020-12-19T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-06-12T07:32:35Z
day: '19'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
- _id: KrCh
doi: 10.5061/DRYAD.CRJDFN318
license: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn318
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publisher: Dryad
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '7343'
    relation: used_in_publication
    status: public
status: public
title: Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_0.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC0 1.0)
  short: CC0 (1.0)
type: research_data_reference
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
year: '2020'
...
---
_id: '7343'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Coinfections with multiple pathogens can result in complex within‐host dynamics
    affecting virulence and transmission. While multiple infections are intensively
    studied in solitary hosts, it is so far unresolved how social host interactions
    interfere with pathogen competition, and if this depends on coinfection diversity.
    We studied how the collective disease defences of ants – their social immunity
    – influence pathogen competition in coinfections of same or different fungal pathogen
    species. Social immunity reduced virulence for all pathogen combinations, but
    interfered with spore production only in different‐species coinfections. Here,
    it decreased overall pathogen sporulation success while increasing co‐sporulation
    on individual cadavers and maintaining a higher pathogen diversity at the community
    level. Mathematical modelling revealed that host sanitary care alone can modulate
    competitive outcomes between pathogens, giving advantage to fast‐germinating,
    thus less grooming‐sensitive ones. Host social interactions can hence modulate
    infection dynamics in coinfected group members, thereby altering pathogen communities
    at the host level and population level.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: LifeSc
acknowledgement: "We thank Bernhardt Steinwender and Jorgen Eilenberg for the fungal
  strains, Xavier Espadaler, Mireia Diaz, Christiane Wanke, Lumi Viljakainen and the
  Social Immunity Team at IST Austria, for help with ant collection, and Wanda Gorecka
  and Gertraud Stift of the IST Austria Life Science Facility for technical support.
  We are thankful to Dieter Ebert for input at all stages of the project, Roger Mundry
  for statistical advice, Hinrich Schulenburg, Paul Schmid-Hempel, Yuko\r\nUlrich
  and Joachim Kurtz for project discussion, Bor Kavcic for advice on growth curves,
  Marcus Roper for advice on modelling work and comments on the manuscript, as well
  as Marjon de Vos, Weini Huang and the Social Immunity Team for comments on the manuscript.\r\nThis
  study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the Priority Programme
  1399 Host-parasite Coevolution (CR 118/3 to S.C.) and the People Programme\r\n(Marie
  Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)
  under REA grant agreement no 291734 (ISTFELLOW to B.M.). "
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: letter_note
author:
- first_name: Barbara
  full_name: Milutinovic, Barbara
  id: 2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Milutinovic
  orcid: 0000-0002-8214-4758
- first_name: Miriam
  full_name: Stock, Miriam
  id: 42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Stock
- first_name: Anna V
  full_name: Grasse, Anna V
  id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Elisabeth
  full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
  id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Christian
  full_name: Hilbe, Christian
  id: 2FDF8F3C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Hilbe
  orcid: 0000-0001-5116-955X
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. Social
    immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. <i>Ecology Letters</i>.
    2020;23(3):565-574. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458">10.1111/ele.13458</a>
  apa: Milutinovic, B., Stock, M., Grasse, A. V., Naderlinger, E., Hilbe, C., &#38;
    Cremer, S. (2020). Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens.
    <i>Ecology Letters</i>. Wiley. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458">https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458</a>
  chicago: Milutinovic, Barbara, Miriam Stock, Anna V Grasse, Elisabeth Naderlinger,
    Christian Hilbe, and Sylvia Cremer. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
    Coinfecting Pathogens.” <i>Ecology Letters</i>. Wiley, 2020. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458">https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458</a>.
  ieee: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A. V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, and S. Cremer,
    “Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens,” <i>Ecology
    Letters</i>, vol. 23, no. 3. Wiley, pp. 565–574, 2020.
  ista: Milutinovic B, Stock M, Grasse AV, Naderlinger E, Hilbe C, Cremer S. 2020.
    Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens. Ecology Letters.
    23(3), 565–574.
  mla: Milutinovic, Barbara, et al. “Social Immunity Modulates Competition between
    Coinfecting Pathogens.” <i>Ecology Letters</i>, vol. 23, no. 3, Wiley, 2020, pp.
    565–74, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13458">10.1111/ele.13458</a>.
  short: B. Milutinovic, M. Stock, A.V. Grasse, E. Naderlinger, C. Hilbe, S. Cremer,
    Ecology Letters 23 (2020) 565–574.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2020-01-20T13:32:12Z
date_published: 2020-03-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-06-12T07:32:35Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: SyCr
- _id: KrCh
doi: 10.1111/ele.13458
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000507515900001'
  pmid:
  - '31950595'
file:
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  checksum: 0cd8be386fa219db02845b7c3991ce04
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
  date_updated: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
  file_id: '8776'
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  file_size: 561749
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  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2020-11-19T11:27:10Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        23'
isi: 1
issue: '3'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 565-574
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FP7
  grant_number: '291734'
  name: International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme
- _id: 25DAF0B2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  grant_number: CR-118/3-1
  name: Host-Parasite Coevolution
publication: Ecology Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1461-0248
  issn:
  - 1461-023X
publication_status: published
publisher: Wiley
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  link:
  - description: News on IST Homepage
    relation: press_release
    url: https://ist.ac.at/en/news/social-ants-shapes-disease-outcome/
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scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Social immunity modulates competition between coinfecting pathogens
tmp:
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  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
  short: CC BY-NC (4.0)
type: journal_article
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volume: 23
year: '2020'
...
---
_id: '55'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Many animals use antimicrobials to prevent or cure disease [1,2]. For example,
    some animals will ingest plants with medicinal properties, both prophylactically
    to prevent infection and therapeutically to self-medicate when sick. Antimicrobial
    substances are also used as topical disinfectants, to prevent infection, protect
    offspring and to sanitise their surroundings [1,2]. Social insects (ants, bees,
    wasps and termites) build nests in environments with a high abundance and diversity
    of pathogenic microorganisms — such as soil and rotting wood — and colonies are
    often densely crowded, creating conditions that favour disease outbreaks. Consequently,
    social insects have evolved collective disease defences to protect their colonies
    from epidemics. These traits can be seen as functionally analogous to the immune
    system of individual organisms [3,4]. This ‘social immunity’ utilises antimicrobials
    to prevent and eradicate infections, and to keep the brood and nest clean. However,
    these antimicrobial compounds can be harmful to the insects themselves, and it
    is unknown how colonies prevent collateral damage when using them. Here, we demonstrate
    that antimicrobial acids, produced by workers to disinfect the colony, are harmful
    to the delicate pupal brood stage, but that the pupae are protected from the acids
    by the presence of a silk cocoon. Garden ants spray their nests with an antimicrobial
    poison to sanitize contaminated nestmates and brood. Here, Pull et al show that
    they also prophylactically sanitise their colonies, and that the silk cocoon serves
    as a barrier to protect developing pupae, thus preventing collateral damage during
    nest sanitation.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Christopher
  full_name: Pull, Christopher
  id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Pull
  orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982
- first_name: Sina
  full_name: Metzler, Sina
  id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Metzler
  orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Elisabeth
  full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
  id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. Protection against the lethal side
    effects of social immunity in ants. <i>Current Biology</i>. 2018;28(19):R1139-R1140.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063">10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063</a>
  apa: Pull, C., Metzler, S., Naderlinger, E., &#38; Cremer, S. (2018). Protection
    against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants. <i>Current Biology</i>.
    Cell Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063</a>
  chicago: Pull, Christopher, Sina Metzler, Elisabeth Naderlinger, and Sylvia Cremer.
    “Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social Immunity in Ants.” <i>Current
    Biology</i>. Cell Press, 2018. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063</a>.
  ieee: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, and S. Cremer, “Protection against the
    lethal side effects of social immunity in ants,” <i>Current Biology</i>, vol.
    28, no. 19. Cell Press, pp. R1139–R1140, 2018.
  ista: Pull C, Metzler S, Naderlinger E, Cremer S. 2018. Protection against the lethal
    side effects of social immunity in ants. Current Biology. 28(19), R1139–R1140.
  mla: Pull, Christopher, et al. “Protection against the Lethal Side Effects of Social
    Immunity in Ants.” <i>Current Biology</i>, vol. 28, no. 19, Cell Press, 2018,
    pp. R1139–40, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063">10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063</a>.
  short: C. Pull, S. Metzler, E. Naderlinger, S. Cremer, Current Biology 28 (2018)
    R1139–R1140.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:44:23Z
date_published: 2018-10-08T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-15T12:06:46Z
day: '08'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000446693400008'
intvolume: '        28'
isi: 1
issue: '19'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.063
month: '10'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: R1139 - R1140
publication: Current Biology
publication_status: published
publisher: Cell Press
publist_id: '7999'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Protection against the lethal side effects of social immunity in ants
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 28
year: '2018'
...
---
_id: '413'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Being cared for when sick is a benefit of sociality that can reduce disease
    and improve survival of group members. However, individuals providing care risk
    contracting infectious diseases themselves. If they contract a low pathogen dose,
    they may develop low-level infections that do not cause disease but still affect
    host immunity by either decreasing or increasing the host’s vulnerability to subsequent
    infections. Caring for contagious individuals can thus significantly alter the
    future disease susceptibility of caregivers. Using ants and their fungal pathogens
    as a model system, we tested if the altered disease susceptibility of experienced
    caregivers, in turn, affects their expression of sanitary care behavior. We found
    that low-level infections contracted during sanitary care had protective or neutral
    effects on secondary exposure to the same (homologous) pathogen but consistently
    caused high mortality on superinfection with a different (heterologous) pathogen.
    In response to this risk, the ants selectively adjusted the expression of their
    sanitary care. Specifically, the ants performed less grooming and more antimicrobial
    disinfection when caring for nestmates contaminated with heterologous pathogens
    compared with homologous ones. By modulating the components of sanitary care in
    this way the ants acquired less infectious particles of the heterologous pathogens,
    resulting in reduced superinfection. The performance of risk-adjusted sanitary
    care reveals the remarkable capacity of ants to react to changes in their disease
    susceptibility, according to their own infection history and to flexibly adjust
    collective care to individual risk.
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Matthias
  full_name: Konrad, Matthias
  id: 46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Konrad
- first_name: Christopher
  full_name: Pull, Christopher
  id: 3C7F4840-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Pull
  orcid: 0000-0003-1122-3982
- first_name: Sina
  full_name: Metzler, Sina
  id: 48204546-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Metzler
  orcid: 0000-0002-9547-2494
- first_name: Katharina
  full_name: Seif, Katharina
  id: 90F7894A-02CF-11E9-976E-E38CFE5CBC1D
  last_name: Seif
- first_name: Elisabeth
  full_name: Naderlinger, Elisabeth
  id: 31757262-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Naderlinger
- first_name: Anna V
  full_name: Grasse, Anna V
  id: 406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Grasse
- first_name: Sylvia
  full_name: Cremer, Sylvia
  id: 2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Cremer
  orcid: 0000-0002-2193-3868
citation:
  ama: Konrad M, Pull C, Metzler S, et al. Ants avoid superinfections by performing
    risk-adjusted sanitary care. <i>PNAS</i>. 2018;115(11):2782-2787. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115">10.1073/pnas.1713501115</a>
  apa: Konrad, M., Pull, C., Metzler, S., Seif, K., Naderlinger, E., Grasse, A. V.,
    &#38; Cremer, S. (2018). Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted
    sanitary care. <i>PNAS</i>. National Academy of Sciences. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115</a>
  chicago: Konrad, Matthias, Christopher Pull, Sina Metzler, Katharina Seif, Elisabeth
    Naderlinger, Anna V Grasse, and Sylvia Cremer. “Ants Avoid Superinfections by
    Performing Risk-Adjusted Sanitary Care.” <i>PNAS</i>. National Academy of Sciences,
    2018. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115</a>.
  ieee: M. Konrad <i>et al.</i>, “Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted
    sanitary care,” <i>PNAS</i>, vol. 115, no. 11. National Academy of Sciences, pp.
    2782–2787, 2018.
  ista: Konrad M, Pull C, Metzler S, Seif K, Naderlinger E, Grasse AV, Cremer S. 2018.
    Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care. PNAS. 115(11),
    2782–2787.
  mla: Konrad, Matthias, et al. “Ants Avoid Superinfections by Performing Risk-Adjusted
    Sanitary Care.” <i>PNAS</i>, vol. 115, no. 11, National Academy of Sciences, 2018,
    pp. 2782–87, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713501115">10.1073/pnas.1713501115</a>.
  short: M. Konrad, C. Pull, S. Metzler, K. Seif, E. Naderlinger, A.V. Grasse, S.
    Cremer, PNAS 115 (2018) 2782–2787.
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:46:20Z
date_published: 2018-03-13T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-04-15T08:20:50Z
day: '13'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1713501115
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000427245400069'
  pmid:
  - '29463746'
intvolume: '       115'
isi: 1
issue: '11'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29463746
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 2782 - 2787
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 25DC711C-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
  call_identifier: FP7
  grant_number: '243071'
  name: 'Social Vaccination in Ant Colonies: from Individual Mechanisms to Society
    Effects'
publication: PNAS
publication_status: published
publisher: National Academy of Sciences
publist_id: '7416'
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  link:
  - description: News on IST Homepage
    relation: press_release
    url: https://ist.ac.at/en/news/helping-in-spite-of-risk-ants-perform-risk-averse-sanitary-care-of-infectious-nest-mates/
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Ants avoid superinfections by performing risk-adjusted sanitary care
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 115
year: '2018'
...
