Dissertation
Immune function and development in altricial-developing passerine house sparrows (Passer domesticus)
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
05/2010
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006028
Abstract
Passerine birds are known to be ecologically, agriculturally, and environmentally relevant fixtures on six of the seven world continents and yet the immune systems for these altricial-developing species are poorly defined. We profiled the early humoral development of the adaptive immune system in an altricial-developing wild passerine species, the house sparrow (Passer domestics) and characterized the half-life of maternal antibodies in nestling plasma, the onset of de novo synthesis of endogenous antibodies by nestlings, and the timing of immunological independence, where nestlings rely entirely on their own antibodies for immunologic protection. We developed assays to measure both antigen-specific and total antibody concentration in the plasma of females, yolks, and nestlings and traced the transfer of maternal antibodies from females to nestlings through the yolk. Based on the short half-life of maternal antibodies, the rapid production of endogenous antibodies by nestlings and the relatively low transfer of maternal antibodies to nestlings, our findings suggest that 1) altricial-developing sparrows achieve immunologic independence much earlier than precocial chickens and 2) maternal antibodies may not confer the immunologic protection or immune priming previously proposed in other passerine studies. Maternal antibodies are believed to protect immunologically immature avian offspring during the critical period between hatch and the onset of endogenous antibody production. Yet, as aforementioned, house-sparrow specific patterns of immunity suggest that maternal antibodies may play a limited role in protecting and priming immunologically na ve young against environmental pathogens. We tested the ability of female house sparrows to influence the immunologic phenotype of their offspring s humoral immune system through the transfer of antigen-specific maternal antibodies and found no effect of maternal antibodies on nestling body condition or immunity. Our results suggest that maternal antibodies may be a neutral byproduct of the female immune system more so than a reflection of adaptive maternal investment. Further research needs to be conducted on other altricial passerines to determine if the results of our study are a species-specific phenomenon or if they can be applied to other avian species.
Metrics
4 File views/ downloads
21 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Immune function and development in altricial-developing passerine house sparrows (Passer domesticus)
- Creators
- Marisa Olson King
- Contributors
- Hubert Schwabl (Chair)Jeb Owen (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of EntomologyDEREK J MCLEAN (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Biological Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 146
- Identifiers
- 99901055021301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation