Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: LARISSA FREITAS FERREIRA

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : LARISSA FREITAS FERREIRA
DATE: 03/02/2022
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: PLATAFORMA VIRTUAL (Google Meet)
TITLE:

Soldiers contribute to improve the social immunity in a nasute termite species exposed to entomopathogenic fungus

KEY WORDS:

behavior, Nasutitermes coniger, Metarhizium anisopliae, survivorship.

PAGES: 31
BIG AREA: Ciências Agrárias
AREA: Agronomia
SUBÁREA: Fitossanidade
SPECIALTY: Entomologia Agrícola
SUMMARY:

Pathogens and parasites have been reported as selective pressures in the evolution of eusociality. The evolution of a reproductively altruistic caste also contributed to the success of eusociality. In termites, there was an evident increase in the proportion of soldiers in the colonies throughout the group evolution. In Nasutitermitinae, for instance, soldiers have a crucial role in defense, resource selection and foraging. However, the role of soldiers to colony immunity is still poorly understood. Here, we evaluated the role of soldier in the social immunity of Nasutitermes corniger (Termitidae: Nasutitermitinae) groups exposed to the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.) Sorokin. We tested the hypothesis that termite groups with natural proportion of soldiers (i.e. 30%) exposed to M. anisopliae survive longer; and that such pattern can be explained by a greater number of prophylactic behaviors in groups with natural proportion of soldiers. In general, groups of N. corniger with 30 and 50% of soldiers survive longer with the presence of the fungus compared to groups with 0 and 100% of soldiers. The behavioral observations suggest that in the natural proportion of soldiers (i.e. 30%), allogrooming and trophallaxis play a crucial role in the control of disease and its death hazard in termites. Such results show that the presence of soldiers promotes possible mechanisms for the socially mediated immunity. Our results show that soldiers in N. corniger may play an important role in colony immunity, which may help our understanding of the function of this caste and the significance of pathogens in termite eusocial evolution.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Presidente - 3077179 - PAULO FELLIPE CRISTALDO
Externo à Instituição - OG FRANCISCO FONSECA DE SOUZA - UFV
Externa à Instituição - ANA PAULA ALBANO ARAÚJO - UFS