---
res:
  bibo_abstract:
  - In this thesis I studied various individual and social immune defences employed
    by the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus mostly against entomopathogenic fungi.  The
    first two chapters of this thesis address the phenomenon of 'social immunisation'.
    Social immunisation, that is the immunological protection of group members due
    to social contact to a pathogen-exposed nestmate, has been described in various
    social insect species against different types of pathogens. However, in the case
    of entomopathogenic fungi it has, so far, only been demonstrated that social immunisation
    exists at all. Its underlying mechanisms r any other properties were, however,
    unknown. In the first chapter of this thesis I identified the mechanistic basis
    of social immunisation in L. neglectus against the entomopathogenous fungus Metarhizium.
    I could show that nestmates of a pathogen-exposed individual contract low-level
    infections due to social interactions. These low-level infections are, however,
    non-lethal and cause an active stimulation of the immune system, which protects
    the nestmates upon subsequent pathogen encounters. In the second chapter of this
    thesis I investigated the specificity and colony level effects of social immunisation.
    I demonstrated that the protection conferred by social immunisation is highly
    specific, protecting ants only against the same pathogen strain. In addition,
    depending on the respective context, social immunisation may even cause fitness
    costs. I further showed that social immunisation crucially affects sanitary behaviour
    and disease dynamics within ant groups. In the third chapter of this thesis I
    studied the effects of the ectosymbiotic fungus Laboulbenia formicarum on its
    host L. neglectus. Although Laboulbeniales are the largest order of insect-parasitic
    fungi, research concerning host fitness consequence is sparse. I showed that highly
    Laboulbenia-infected ants sustain fitness costs under resource limitation, however,
    gain fitness benefits when exposed to an entomopathogenus fungus. These effects
    are probably cause by a prophylactic upregulation of behavioural as well as physiological
    immune defences in highly infected ants.@eng
  bibo_authorlist:
  - foaf_Person:
      foaf_givenName: Matthias
      foaf_name: Konrad, Matthias
      foaf_surname: Konrad
      foaf_workInfoHomepage: http://www.librecat.org/personId=46528076-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  dct_date: 2014^xs_gYear
  dct_isPartOf:
  - http://id.crossref.org/issn/2663-337X
  dct_language: eng
  dct_publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria@
  dct_title: 'Immune defences in ants: Effects of social immunisation and a fungal
    ectosymbiont in the ant Lasius neglectus@'
...