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Variability of whipworm infection and humoral immune response in a wild population of mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pall.)

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Abstract

Restricted mobility and spatial isolation of social units in gregarious subterranean mammals ensure good defence mechanisms against parasites, which in turn allows for a reduction of immunity components. In contrast, a parasite invasion may cause an increased adaptive immune response. Therefore, it can be expected that spatial and temporal distribution of parasites within a population will correlate with the local variability in the host’s immunocompetence. To test this hypothesis, the intra-population variability of a whipworm infestation and the humoral immune response to non-replicated antigens in mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pall.), social subterranean rodents, was estimated. Whipworm prevalence in mole voles increased from spring to autumn, and this tendency was more pronounced in settlements living in natural meadows compared to settlements in man-made meadows. However, humoral immune response was lowest in animals from natural meadows trapped in autumn. Since whipworm infestation does not directly affect the immunity of mole voles, the reciprocal tendencies in seasonal dynamics and spatial distribution of whipworm abundance and host immunocompetence may be explained by local deterioration of habitat conditions, which increases the probability of an infestation.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Federal Fundamental Scientific Research Programme for 2013–2020 (VI.51.1.6) and by the Russian Foundation for Basal Researches, grants No 00-04-49210, 02-04-49253, 03-04-48768, and 16-04-00888. We thank N. Evdokimov and N. Sineva for their participation in collecting material and in discussing the results. We also thank A. Dobrotvorsky and V. Panov for their support in the organisation of field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS, 630091, Frunze street, 11, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Eugene Novikov, Dmitry Petrovski, Ekaterina Kondratuk & Anton Krivopalov

  2. Institute of Cytology and Genetic SB RAS, 630090, Prospekt Lavrentyeva 10, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Dmitry Petrovski, Viktoria Mak & Mikhail Moshkin

  3. Novosibirsk State Agrarian University, 630039, Dobrolubova street, 160, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Eugene Novikov

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  1. Eugene Novikov
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Correspondence to Eugene Novikov.

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Summary tables of the GLM results for AFC number, body mass, and spleen mas. The factors which effects are significant are marked by red. (PDF 106 kb)

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Novikov, E., Petrovski, D., Mak, V. et al. Variability of whipworm infection and humoral immune response in a wild population of mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pall.). Parasitol Res 115, 2925–2932 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-016-5042-1

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