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Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels

Differences in how males and females respond to foreign antigens are common across taxa. Such sexual differences in the immune system are predicted to be greater in species with high promiscuity and sociality as these factors increase the likelihood of disease transmission. Intense sperm competition...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Manjerovic, Mary Beth, Waterman, Jane M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371048/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22715391
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038524
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author Manjerovic, Mary Beth
Waterman, Jane M.
author_facet Manjerovic, Mary Beth
Waterman, Jane M.
author_sort Manjerovic, Mary Beth
collection PubMed
description Differences in how males and females respond to foreign antigens are common across taxa. Such sexual differences in the immune system are predicted to be greater in species with high promiscuity and sociality as these factors increase the likelihood of disease transmission. Intense sperm competition is thought to further this sexual dichotomy as increased investment in spermatogenesis likely incurs additional immunological costs. Xerus inauris, a ground squirrel found throughout southern Africa, is extremely social and promiscuous with one of the highest male reproductive investments among rodents. These life-history attributes suggest males and females should demonstrate a large dichotomy in immunity. Contrary to our prediction, we found no difference in spleen mass between the sexes. However, we did find significant biases in leukocyte types and red blood cell counts, possibly reflecting responses to parasite types. Among males, we predicted greater investments in spermatogenesis would result in reduced immunological investments. We found a negative association between testes and spleen size and a positive relationship between testes and number of lice suggesting trade-offs in reproductive investment possibly due to the costs associated with spermatogenesis and immunity. We suggest when measuring sexual differences in immunity it is important to consider the effects of reproductive pressures, parasite types, and life history costs.
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spelling pubmed-33710482012-06-19 Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels Manjerovic, Mary Beth Waterman, Jane M. PLoS One Research Article Differences in how males and females respond to foreign antigens are common across taxa. Such sexual differences in the immune system are predicted to be greater in species with high promiscuity and sociality as these factors increase the likelihood of disease transmission. Intense sperm competition is thought to further this sexual dichotomy as increased investment in spermatogenesis likely incurs additional immunological costs. Xerus inauris, a ground squirrel found throughout southern Africa, is extremely social and promiscuous with one of the highest male reproductive investments among rodents. These life-history attributes suggest males and females should demonstrate a large dichotomy in immunity. Contrary to our prediction, we found no difference in spleen mass between the sexes. However, we did find significant biases in leukocyte types and red blood cell counts, possibly reflecting responses to parasite types. Among males, we predicted greater investments in spermatogenesis would result in reduced immunological investments. We found a negative association between testes and spleen size and a positive relationship between testes and number of lice suggesting trade-offs in reproductive investment possibly due to the costs associated with spermatogenesis and immunity. We suggest when measuring sexual differences in immunity it is important to consider the effects of reproductive pressures, parasite types, and life history costs. Public Library of Science 2012-06-08 /pmc/articles/PMC3371048/ /pubmed/22715391 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038524 Text en Manjerovic, Waterman. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Manjerovic, Mary Beth
Waterman, Jane M.
Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title_full Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title_fullStr Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title_full_unstemmed Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title_short Immunological Sex Differences in Socially Promiscuous African Ground Squirrels
title_sort immunological sex differences in socially promiscuous african ground squirrels
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371048/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22715391
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038524
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