Authors:	Beros, Sara Lenhart, Anna Scharg, Inon Negroni, Matteo Antoine Menzel, Florian Foitzik, Susanne
Title:	Extreme lifespan extension in tapeworm-infected ant workers
Online publication date:	15-Nov-2021
Year of first publication:	2021
Language:	english
Abstract:	Social insects are hosts of diverse parasites, but the influence of these parasites on phenotypic host traits is not yet well understood. Here, we tracked the survival of tapeworm-infected ant workers, their uninfected nest-mates and of ants from unparasitized colonies. Our multi-year study on the ant Temnothorax nylanderi, the intermediate host of the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis, revealed a prolonged lifespan of infected workers compared with their uninfected peers. Intriguingly, their survival over 3 years did not differ from those of (uninfected) queens, whose lifespan can reach two decades. By contrast, uninfected workers from parasitized colonies suffered from increased mortality compared with uninfected workers from unparasitized colonies. Infected workers exhibited a metabolic rate and lipid content similar to young workers in this species, and they received more social care than uninfected workers and queens in their colonies. This increased attention could be mediated by their deviant chemical profile, which we determined to elicit more interest from uninfected nest-mates in a separate experiment. In conclusion, our study demonstrates an extreme lifespan extension in a social host following tapeworm infection, which appears to enable host workers to retain traits typical for young workers.
DDC:	570 Biowissenschaften 570 Life sciences
Institution:	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department:	FB 10 Biologie
Place:	Mainz
ROR:	https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI:	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-6506
Version:	Published version
Publication type:	Zeitschriftenaufsatz
License:	CC BY
Information on rights of use:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal:	Royal Society Open Science 8 5
Pages or article number:	202118
Publisher:	Royal Soc. Publ.
Publisher place:	London
Issue date:	2021
ISSN:	2054-5703
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.202118
Publisher DOI:	10.1098/rsos.202118
Appears in collections:	JGU-Publikationen