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SUMMARY:Endocrine signaling and physiological constraint drive a reproduct
 ion-immunity tradeoff in Drosophila - Brian Lazzaro
DTSTART:20240305T120000Z
DTEND:20240305T130000Z
UID:TALK211168@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:90994
DESCRIPTION:Life history tradeoffs between reproductive output and immune 
 performance are commonly observed throughout the animal kingdom but are ra
 rely understood mechanistically. In the insect Drosophila melanogaster\, r
 eproductive investment reduces resistance to bacterial infection. We have 
 found that the reduction in immunity can be traced to the cost of producin
 g eggs\, and that mating-induced changes in hormone balance regulate the d
 ifferential investment in fecundity versus immunity. However\, rather than
  arising through an adaptive shift in allocation of energetic resources fr
 om one process to the other\, the tradeoff seems to originate in physiolog
 ical constraints and overburdening of the fat body tissue. We observe natu
 ral genetic polymorphism for the magnitude of post-mating immune suppressi
 on but it is largely uncorrelated with reproductive output\, potentially l
 imiting the opportunity for evolutionary optimization. Thus\, while reprod
 uction and immune performance are observed to trade off in D. melanogaster
  as would be expected under classical life history theory\, the mechanism 
 and evolutionary potential may not conform to classical expectations.
LOCATION:Jean Thomas Lecture theatre\, Sanger Building\, Tennis Court Road
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