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Temporal Variation in Immune Components of the White Grub Phyllophaga polyphylla (Bates) (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae)

  • Systematics, Morphology and Physiology
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Abstract

Ecological immunology assumes that the host immune efficiency is correlated with its survival after pathogen challenge. To test this hypothesis, we challenged Phyllophaga polyphylla (Bates) larvae with the naturally occurring fungus Metarhizium pingshaense on two consecutive years (2011 and 2012). In each year, we injected the blastospores of M. pingshaense and then used levels of prophenoloxidase (proPO), phenoloxidase (PO) and total haemolymph serum protein as indicators of immune efficiency. Larvae were injected with (1) phosphate buffered saline (PBS) + Tween and viable blastospores of M. pingshaense, (2) PBS + Tween and non-viable blastospores of M. pingshaense, (3) PBS + Tween, or (4) non-manipulated. Overall, levels of PO, proPO and total haemolymph serum protein in larvae after 12 h were similar amongst treatments within each year of collection. However, larvae collected in 2011 showed higher PO and proPO activity but lower total haemolymph serum protein compared with larvae collected in 2012. A survival study injecting viable blastospores showed that larvae collected in both years died within 48 h; however, when non-viable blastospores were injected, which were still toxic to larvae, mortality was greater in larvae collected in 2011 compared with larvae collected in 2012. Altogether, these results indicate that PO, proPO and total haemolymph serum protein do not predict immune strength of P. polyphylla against blastospores of M. pingshaense, but higher values of PO and proPO were correlated with higher survival rates against non-infective but toxic agents. The possible role of some abiotic factors over the differences observed for immune components of P. polyphylla in different years of collection is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research is part of JNEV’s PhD studies and he received a scholarship from CONACYT Mexico. This study was financed by Fundación Guanajuato Produce, A.C., project number FGP521/09-SIFP-11-2007-0271. JCG was financed by CONACyT (grant no. 152666) and the Apoyo Institucional para la Investigación (Universidad de Guanajuato 2014, 2015). ACA was supported by both UNAM-PAPIIT and grant number IN222312.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postgrado en Fitosanidad, Especialidad en Entomología y Acarología, Colegio de Postgraduados, Km, 36.5 Carretera Mexico, Texcoco, Edo. de México, Mexico

    J N Enríquez-Vara, A W Guzmán-Franco, R Alatorre-Rosas & H González-Hernández

  2. Depto de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Univ de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    J Contreras-Garduño

  3. Depto de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Univ Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    J N Enríquez-Vara & A Córdoba-Aguilar

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  1. J N Enríquez-Vara
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  2. J Contreras-Garduño
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  3. A W Guzmán-Franco
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  4. A Córdoba-Aguilar
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  5. R Alatorre-Rosas
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  6. H González-Hernández
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Correspondence to A W Guzmán-Franco.

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Edited by Guilherme D Rossi – UNESP

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Enríquez-Vara, J.N., Contreras-Garduño, J., Guzmán-Franco, A.W. et al. Temporal Variation in Immune Components of the White Grub Phyllophaga polyphylla (Bates) (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae). Neotrop Entomol 44, 466–473 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-015-0308-3

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