The cost of an immune response: vaccination reduces parental effort

Råberg, LarsLund University,Lunds universitet,MEMEG,Biologiska institutionen,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,Department of Biology,Faculty of Science (författare)

A fundamental assumption of theories of the ecology and evolution of inducible defences is that protective responses to attacks by parasites or predators should not only have benefits, but also costs. The vertebrate immune system is by far the best studied example of an inducible defence, yet little is known about the costs of an immune response, especially in natural populations. To test: if an immune response per se is costly, we induced an antibody response in female blue tits, Parus caeruleus, by immunising them with human diphtheria-tetanus vaccine, and compared their nestling-feeding rate with that of saline-injected controls. We found that vaccinated females reduced their nestling feeding rate, thus demonstrating a cost of the immune response in the currency of parental effort.

Nilsson, Jan-ÅkeLund University,Lunds universitet,Evolutionär ekologi,Biologiska institutionen,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,MEMEG,Evolutionary ecology,Department of Biology,Faculty of Science(Swepub:lu)ekol-jan (författare)
Ilmonen, P (författare)
Stjernman, MartinLund University,Lunds universitet,Biodiversitet,Biologiska institutionen,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,MEMEG,Biodiversity,Department of Biology,Faculty of Science(Swepub:lu)ekol-msn (författare)
Hasselquist, DennisLund University,Lunds universitet,MEMEG,Biologiska institutionen,Naturvetenskapliga fakulteten,Department of Biology,Faculty of Science(Swepub:lu)ekol-dha (författare)
MEMEGBiologiska institutionen (creator_code:org_t)

Av författaren/redakt...: Råberg, Lars; Nilsson, Jan-Åke; Ilmonen, P; Stjernman, Marti ...; Hasselquist, Den ...

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