Titre
In kittiwakes food availability partially explains the seasonal decline in immunocompetence
Type
article
Institution
UNIL/CHUV/Unisanté + institutions partenaires
Périodique
Auteur(s)
Gasparini, J.
Auteure/Auteur
Roulin, A.
Auteure/Auteur
Gill, V. A.
Auteure/Auteur
Hatch, S.
Auteure/Auteur
Boulinier, T.
Auteure/Auteur
Liens vers les personnes
Liens vers les unités
ISSN
0269-8463
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2006
Volume
20
Numéro
3
Première page
457
Dernière page/numéro d’article
463
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Langue
anglais
Résumé
1. The immune system plays an important role in fitness, and interindividual variation in immunocompetence is due to several factors including food supply.
2. Seasonal variation in food resources may therefore explain why immunocompetence in bird nestlings usually declines throughout the breeding season, with chicks born early in the season receiving more food than chicks born later, and thereby possibly developing a more potent immune system. Although there are studies supporting this hypothesis, none has been experimental.
3. We performed an experiment in the kittiwake Rissa tridactyla by manipulating the food supply of pairs that were left to produce a first brood, and of pairs that were induced to produce a late replacement brood.
4. If food supply mediates, at least partially, seasonal variations in chick immunocompetence, non-food-supplemented chicks would show a stronger seasonal decline in immunocompetence than food-supplemented chicks.
5. Food supplementation improved humoral immunocompetence (the production of immunoglobulins Y), but not T-cell immunocompetence (phytohaemagglutinin, PHA response). T-cell immunocompetence of food-supplemented and non-food-supplemented chicks decreased through the season but to a similar extent, whereas the humoral immunocompetence of non-food-supplemented chicks decreased more strongly than that of food-supplemented chicks.
6. Our results suggest that the seasonal decline in humoral immunocompetence can be explained, at least partly, by variations in food supply throughout the breeding season.
2. Seasonal variation in food resources may therefore explain why immunocompetence in bird nestlings usually declines throughout the breeding season, with chicks born early in the season receiving more food than chicks born later, and thereby possibly developing a more potent immune system. Although there are studies supporting this hypothesis, none has been experimental.
3. We performed an experiment in the kittiwake Rissa tridactyla by manipulating the food supply of pairs that were left to produce a first brood, and of pairs that were induced to produce a late replacement brood.
4. If food supply mediates, at least partially, seasonal variations in chick immunocompetence, non-food-supplemented chicks would show a stronger seasonal decline in immunocompetence than food-supplemented chicks.
5. Food supplementation improved humoral immunocompetence (the production of immunoglobulins Y), but not T-cell immunocompetence (phytohaemagglutinin, PHA response). T-cell immunocompetence of food-supplemented and non-food-supplemented chicks decreased through the season but to a similar extent, whereas the humoral immunocompetence of non-food-supplemented chicks decreased more strongly than that of food-supplemented chicks.
6. Our results suggest that the seasonal decline in humoral immunocompetence can be explained, at least partly, by variations in food supply throughout the breeding season.
PID Serval
serval:BIB_4161FC6A3465
Open Access
Oui
Date de création
2008-01-24T16:43:18.074Z
Date de création dans IRIS
2025-05-20T20:47:21Z
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Nom
BIB_4161FC6A3465.P001.pdf
Version du manuscrit
preprint
Taille
199.94 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
PID Serval
serval:BIB_4161FC6A3465.P001
Somme de contrôle
(MD5):936b0c856342979013b04ac21fd31811