[{"volume":16,"OA_place":"publisher","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2041-1723"]},"status":"public","ec_funded":1,"APC_amount":"7068 EUR","acknowledgement":"We thank Joergen Eilenberg and Nicolai V. Meyling for the fungal strain, and the ISTA Social Immunity team, Jonghyun Park and Yuko Ulrich for ant collection. We also thank the Social Immunity team, in particular David Moreno Martínez, Tanvi Madaan, Wilfrid Jean Louis and Jessica Kirchner, for experimental and molecular support, as well as Friedrich Fochler for technical support with the chemical analysis, and the ISTA Lab Support Facility, including the mass spectrometry unit, for general and chemical laboratory support. We further thank Marco Ribezzi for advice on 13C calculations and Ernst Pittenauer for discussion of the chemical data, Chris Pull and Michael Sixt for project discussion, and the Social Immunity team for comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Programme (No. 771402; EPIDEMICSonCHIP) to SC.","type":"journal_article","month":"12","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","DOAJ_listed":"1","year":"2025","oa":1,"file":[{"access_level":"open_access","success":1,"creator":"dernst","file_id":"20826","content_type":"application/pdf","checksum":"06244623bb7611c636652ecbc4787889","file_size":805323,"date_updated":"2025-12-15T13:30:33Z","file_name":"2025_NatureComm_Dawson.pdf","date_created":"2025-12-15T13:30:33Z","relation":"main_file"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"tmp":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","short":"CC BY (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"doi":"10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z","has_accepted_license":"1","PlanS_conform":"1","related_material":{"record":[{"id":"20471","status":"public","relation":"research_data"}],"link":[{"url":"https://ista.ac.at/en/news/ants-signal-deadly-infection/","relation":"press_release","description":"News on ISTA website"}]},"citation":{"apa":"Dawson, E., Hönigsberger, M., Kampleitner, N., Grasse, A. V., Lindorfer, L., Robb, J., … Cremer, S. (2025). Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies. <i>Nature Communications</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z</a>","ama":"Dawson E, Hönigsberger M, Kampleitner N, et al. Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies. <i>Nature Communications</i>. 2025;16. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z\">10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z</a>","chicago":"Dawson, Erika, Michaela Hönigsberger, Niklas Kampleitner, Anna V Grasse, Lukas Lindorfer, Jennifer Robb, Farnaz Beikzadeh, et al. “Altruistic Disease Signalling in Ant Colonies.” <i>Nature Communications</i>. Springer Nature, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z</a>.","ista":"Dawson E, Hönigsberger M, Kampleitner N, Grasse AV, Lindorfer L, Robb J, Beikzadeh F, Strahodinsky F, Leitner H, Rajendran H, Schmitt T, Cremer S. 2025. Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies. Nature Communications. 16, 10511.","mla":"Dawson, Erika, et al. “Altruistic Disease Signalling in Ant Colonies.” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 16, 10511, Springer Nature, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z\">10.1038/s41467-025-66175-z</a>.","short":"E. Dawson, M. Hönigsberger, N. Kampleitner, A.V. Grasse, L. Lindorfer, J. Robb, F. Beikzadeh, F. Strahodinsky, H. Leitner, H. Rajendran, T. Schmitt, S. Cremer, Nature Communications 16 (2025).","ieee":"E. Dawson <i>et al.</i>, “Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies,” <i>Nature Communications</i>, vol. 16. Springer Nature, 2025."},"quality_controlled":"1","ddc":["570"],"acknowledged_ssus":[{"_id":"LifeSc"},{"_id":"MassSpec"}],"publisher":"Springer Nature","scopus_import":"1","article_type":"original","intvolume":"        16","department":[{"_id":"SyCr"},{"_id":"LifeSc"}],"day":"01","_id":"18892","oa_version":"Published Version","article_processing_charge":"Yes","project":[{"_id":"2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","call_identifier":"H2020","grant_number":"771402","name":"Epidemics in ant societies on a chip"},{"name":"IST Austria Open Access Fund","_id":"B67AFEDC-15C9-11EA-A837-991A96BB2854"}],"date_created":"2025-01-27T11:28:05Z","external_id":{"pmid":["41330896"]},"author":[{"first_name":"Erika","last_name":"Dawson","id":"31B4E2D0-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Dawson, Erika"},{"last_name":"Hönigsberger","first_name":"Michaela","full_name":"Hönigsberger, Michaela","id":"953894f3-25bd-11ec-8556-f70a9d38ef60"},{"first_name":"Niklas","last_name":"Kampleitner","full_name":"Kampleitner, Niklas","id":"2AC57FAC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"last_name":"Grasse","first_name":"Anna V","full_name":"Grasse, Anna V","id":"406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"full_name":"Lindorfer, Lukas","id":"85f0e6d3-06b3-11ec-8982-8c5049fa4455","last_name":"Lindorfer","first_name":"Lukas"},{"full_name":"Robb, Jennifer","id":"7bc2734a-e2c6-11ea-9824-a2ed5f0662a8","last_name":"Robb","first_name":"Jennifer"},{"full_name":"Beikzadeh Abbasi, Farnaz","id":"0344bfb9-3feb-11ee-87e9-c27edc800bcd","last_name":"Beikzadeh Abbasi","first_name":"Farnaz"},{"full_name":"Strahodinsky, Florian","id":"979E35EE-C996-11E9-8C7C-CF13E6697425","first_name":"Florian","last_name":"Strahodinsky"},{"first_name":"Hanna","last_name":"Leitner","id":"8fc5c6f6-5903-11ec-abad-c83f046253e7","full_name":"Leitner, Hanna"},{"last_name":"Rajendran","first_name":"Harikrishnan","full_name":"Rajendran, Harikrishnan","id":"876b6b34-8ff4-11ec-97c9-8d95a7aae416"},{"full_name":"Schmitt, Thomas","first_name":"Thomas","last_name":"Schmitt"},{"full_name":"Cremer, Sylvia","id":"2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","orcid":"0000-0002-2193-3868","first_name":"Sylvia","last_name":"Cremer"}],"title":"Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies","date_updated":"2026-06-10T08:50:53Z","main_file_link":[{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.27.582277","open_access":"1"}],"abstract":[{"text":"Sick individuals often conceal their disease status to group members, thereby preventing social exclusion or aggression. Here we show by behavioural, chemical, immunological and infection load analyses that sick ant pupae instead actively emit a chemical signal that in itself is sufficient to trigger their own destruction by colony members. In our experiments, this altruistic disease-signalling was performed only by worker but not queen pupae. The lack of signalling by queen pupae did not constitute cheating behaviour, but reflected their superior immune capabilities. Worker pupae suffered from extensive pathogen replication whereas queen pupae were able to restrain their infection. Our data suggest the evolution of a finely-tuned signalling system in which it is not the induction of an individual’s immune response, but rather its failure to overcome the infection, that triggers pupal signalling for sacrifice. This demonstrates a balanced interplay between individual and social immunity that efficiently achieves whole-colony health.","lang":"eng"}],"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","pmid":1,"publication_status":"published","file_date_updated":"2025-12-15T13:30:33Z","publication":"Nature Communications","OA_type":"gold","date_published":"2025-12-01T00:00:00Z","article_number":"10511","corr_author":"1"},{"intvolume":"         7","department":[{"_id":"SyCr"},{"_id":"LifeSc"},{"_id":"JiFr"}],"scopus_import":"1","article_type":"original","_id":"12543","article_processing_charge":"No","oa_version":"Published Version","day":"01","ddc":["570"],"citation":{"ieee":"M. Stock <i>et al.</i>, “Pathogen evasion of social immunity,” <i>Nature Ecology and Evolution</i>, vol. 7. Springer Nature, pp. 450–460, 2023.","short":"M. Stock, B. Milutinovic, M. Hönigsberger, A.V. Grasse, F. Wiesenhofer, N. Kampleitner, M. Narasimhan, T. Schmitt, S. Cremer, Nature Ecology and Evolution 7 (2023) 450–460.","mla":"Stock, Miriam, et al. “Pathogen Evasion of Social Immunity.” <i>Nature Ecology and Evolution</i>, vol. 7, Springer Nature, 2023, pp. 450–60, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6\">10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6</a>.","ista":"Stock M, Milutinovic B, Hönigsberger M, Grasse AV, Wiesenhofer F, Kampleitner N, Narasimhan M, Schmitt T, Cremer S. 2023. Pathogen evasion of social immunity. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 7, 450–460.","chicago":"Stock, Miriam, Barbara Milutinovic, Michaela Hönigsberger, Anna V Grasse, Florian Wiesenhofer, Niklas Kampleitner, Madhumitha Narasimhan, Thomas Schmitt, and Sylvia Cremer. “Pathogen Evasion of Social Immunity.” <i>Nature Ecology and Evolution</i>. Springer Nature, 2023. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6</a>.","ama":"Stock M, Milutinovic B, Hönigsberger M, et al. Pathogen evasion of social immunity. <i>Nature Ecology and Evolution</i>. 2023;7:450-460. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6\">10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6</a>","apa":"Stock, M., Milutinovic, B., Hönigsberger, M., Grasse, A. V., Wiesenhofer, F., Kampleitner, N., … Cremer, S. (2023). Pathogen evasion of social immunity. <i>Nature Ecology and Evolution</i>. Springer Nature. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6\">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6</a>"},"quality_controlled":"1","publisher":"Springer Nature","acknowledged_ssus":[{"_id":"LifeSc"}],"publication":"Nature Ecology and Evolution","file_date_updated":"2023-08-16T11:54:59Z","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","pmid":1,"publication_status":"published","corr_author":"1","date_published":"2023-03-01T00:00:00Z","date_created":"2023-02-12T23:00:59Z","external_id":{"isi":["000924572800001"],"pmid":["36732670"]},"title":"Pathogen evasion of social immunity","author":[{"first_name":"Miriam","last_name":"Stock","id":"42462816-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Stock, Miriam"},{"orcid":"0000-0002-8214-4758","last_name":"Milutinovic","first_name":"Barbara","full_name":"Milutinovic, Barbara","id":"2CDC32B8-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"first_name":"Michaela","last_name":"Hönigsberger","id":"953894f3-25bd-11ec-8556-f70a9d38ef60","full_name":"Hönigsberger, Michaela"},{"full_name":"Grasse, Anna V","id":"406F989C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","last_name":"Grasse","first_name":"Anna V"},{"last_name":"Wiesenhofer","first_name":"Florian","id":"39523C54-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Wiesenhofer, Florian"},{"id":"2AC57FAC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Kampleitner, Niklas","last_name":"Kampleitner","first_name":"Niklas"},{"last_name":"Narasimhan","first_name":"Madhumitha","orcid":"0000-0002-8600-0671","full_name":"Narasimhan, Madhumitha","id":"44BF24D0-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"last_name":"Schmitt","first_name":"Thomas","full_name":"Schmitt, Thomas"},{"full_name":"Cremer, Sylvia","id":"2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","last_name":"Cremer","first_name":"Sylvia","orcid":"0000-0002-2193-3868"}],"project":[{"call_identifier":"H2020","grant_number":"771402","name":"Epidemics in ant societies on a chip","_id":"2649B4DE-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425"},{"name":"Host-Parasite Coevolution","grant_number":"CR-118/3-1","_id":"25DAF0B2-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425"}],"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Treating sick group members is a hallmark of collective disease defence in vertebrates and invertebrates alike. Despite substantial effects on pathogen fitness and epidemiology, it is still largely unknown how pathogens react to the selection pressure imposed by care intervention. Using social insects and pathogenic fungi, we here performed a serial passage experiment in the presence or absence of colony members, which provide social immunity by grooming off infectious spores from exposed individuals. We found specific effects on pathogen diversity, virulence and transmission. Under selection of social immunity, pathogens invested into higher spore production, but spores were less virulent. Notably, they also elicited a lower grooming response in colony members, compared with spores from the individual host selection lines. Chemical spore analysis suggested that the spores from social selection lines escaped the caregivers’ detection by containing lower levels of ergosterol, a key fungal membrane component. Experimental application of chemically pure ergosterol indeed induced sanitary grooming, supporting its role as a microbe-associated cue triggering host social immunity against fungal pathogens. By reducing this detection cue, pathogens were able to evade the otherwise very effective collective disease defences of their social hosts."}],"date_updated":"2025-04-14T07:47:53Z","acknowledgement":"We thank B. M. Steinwender, N. V. Meyling and J. Eilenberg for the fungal strains; J. Anaya-Rojas for statistical advice; the Social Immunity team at ISTA for ant collection and experimental help, in particular H. Leitner, and the ISTA Lab Support Facility for general laboratory support; D. Ebert, H. Schulenburg and J. Heinze for continued project discussion; and M. Sixt, R. Roemhild and the Social Immunity team for comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (CR118/3-1) within the Framework of the Priority Program SPP 1399, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (No. 771402; EPIDEMICSonCHIP), both to S.C.","type":"journal_article","volume":7,"status":"public","ec_funded":1,"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["2397-334X"]},"file":[{"date_created":"2023-08-16T11:54:59Z","relation":"main_file","date_updated":"2023-08-16T11:54:59Z","file_name":"2023_NatureEcoEvo_Stock.pdf","file_size":1600499,"content_type":"application/pdf","checksum":"8244f4650a0e7aeea488d1bcd4a31702","file_id":"14069","access_level":"open_access","creator":"dernst","success":1}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"tmp":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","short":"CC BY (4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"year":"2023","oa":1,"doi":"10.1038/s41559-023-01981-6","related_material":{"link":[{"url":"https://ista.ac.at/en/news/how-sneaky-germs-hide-from-ants/","relation":"press_release","description":"News on ISTA website"}]},"page":"450-460","has_accepted_license":"1","month":"03","isi":1}]