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Maternal social stress affects immunocompetence of offspring in root voles (Microtus oeconomus):a field experiment

WU Yan BIAN Jianghui CAO Yifan   

  1. N orthwest Plateau Institute of Biology,the Chinese Academy of Sciences,Xining 810001,China
  • Online:2008-10-09 Published:2008-07-07

围栏条件下母体社群应激对根田鼠子代免疫力的影响

吴雁 边疆晖 曹伊凡   

  1. 中国科学院西北高原生物研究所,西宁 810001

Abstract: We studied the effects of maternal social stress induced by high density on offspring immunocompetence by experimentally altering population densities in field enclosures. We established high-density and low-density populations,with two replicates per density,in 4 enclosures (30 m ×50 m). F1 generation individuals born into the enclosures were taken to laboratory and housed in standardized conditions with ambient light and temperature until sexual maturity. We tested serum corticosterone concentrations of founders,and tested the serum antibody contents of anti-keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH)after injections with KLH antigen,spleen index and numbers of blood cells of mature offspring. We found that the founders of populations with high density had higher plasma corticosterone levels than those with low density. Offspring from high density populations had lower antibody contents of anti-KLH and greater spleen weight compared to the those from low densities. However,a significant difference in number of blood cells between offspring from different densities was not found. The results suggest that maternal social stress induced by high density can affect offspring’s immunocompetence in root voles,which may be play an important role in population regulation. In addition,based on ecological view,a concept of maternal stress effect is exploited.

Key words: Immunocompetence Maternal social stress Offspring Population density Root vole (Microtus oeconomus)

摘要: 为探讨自然条件下母体社群应激对根田鼠子代免疫力的影响,在野外围栏建立高密度和低密度根田鼠种群,将围栏出生的F1 代幼体在室内饲养至性成熟后,测定其血清抗匙孔血蓝蛋白抗体的IgG 水平、血液学参数和脾脏指数,以及种群建群者的血浆皮质酮含量。结果表明,高密度种群建群者的皮质酮含量高于低密度种群建群者。子代个体的各类血细胞的数量无差异。高密度种群子代的IgG 含量低于低密度种群的子代,但脾脏指数高于后者。上述不同免疫参数结果相互印证说明,高密度种群引起的母体社群应激对子代免疫力有抑制作用。此外,本文探讨了母体应激效应的概念和生态学意义及其在种群调节中的作用。

关键词: 种群密度 母体社群应激 免疫力 子代 根田鼠