Behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies.
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_62A45F8E454B
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies.
Journal
Nature communications
ISSN
2041-1723 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
2041-1723
Publication state
Published
Issued date
26/08/2023
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
14
Number
1
Pages
5233
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: epublish
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
In social groups, infection risk is not distributed evenly across individuals. Individual behaviour is a key source of variation in infection risk, yet its effects are difficult to separate from other factors (e.g., age). Here, we combine epidemiological experiments with chemical, transcriptomic, and automated behavioural analyses in clonal ant colonies, where behavioural individuality emerges among identical workers. We find that: (1) Caenorhabditis-related nematodes parasitise ant heads and affect their survival and physiology, (2) differences in infection emerge from behavioural variation alone, and reflect spatially-organised division of labour, (3) infections affect colony social organisation by causing infected workers to stay in the nest. By disproportionately infecting some workers and shifting their spatial distribution, infections reduce division of labour and increase spatial overlap between hosts, which should facilitate parasite transmission. Thus, division of labour, a defining feature of societies, not only shapes infection risk and distribution but is also modulated by parasites.
Keywords
Humans, Animals, Pregnancy, Female, Ants, Caenorhabditis, Gene Expression Profiling, Labor, Obstetric, Social Group
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
14/09/2023 11:27
Last modification date
08/08/2024 7:34