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Full-Text Articles in Immunity
Antimicrobial Activity Of Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis) Gut Proteins On Different Days After Blood Feeding, Dhruva K. Karnik
Antimicrobial Activity Of Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis) Gut Proteins On Different Days After Blood Feeding, Dhruva K. Karnik
Honors College Theses
Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) are a blood-feeding ectoparasitic insect and a common domestic pest found throughout the world. Because of their reliance on host blood, fleas are exposed to blood-borne pathogens; however, the flea gut lumen is a hostile environment for microbial colonization. For example, the gut epithelia differentially express immune genes in response to feeding. In the present study, we measured the antimicrobial activity of gut proteins from cat fleas at different days after feeding (2, 5, 7, and 14). Dissected flea guts were homogenized, passed through a syringe filter, and measured in a protein assay kit. …
Parasite Infection Mediates Trait Tradeoffs In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Sarah Dunn
Parasite Infection Mediates Trait Tradeoffs In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Sarah Dunn
Honors College Theses
To be successful, an animal must eat, grow, and reproduce. With limited resources, there are tradeoffs between these critical life history parameters but the direction of the tradeoffs is largely unknown in a changing environment. To determine whether environmental context affects life-history tradeoffs, I surveyed and quantified investment into reproduction, growth, and a proxy for immunity (parasitism), in the mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus, a common inhabitant of salt marshes in Georgia. Three salt marsh sites along coastal Georgia (Shellman Bluff, Skidaway Island, and Tybee Island) were selected using a proxy for anthropogenic disturbance (impervious surface), which also fell along a …
The Effects Of Digestion On Innate Immunity, Rachel L. Luoma
The Effects Of Digestion On Innate Immunity, Rachel L. Luoma
Honors College Theses
Following a meal, an animal can exhibit dramatic shifts in its physiology that can result in rapid growth of the gut and heart, as well as a massive (>40-fold) increase in metabolic rate associated with the energetic costs of processing the meal. However, little is known about the effects of digestion on an important physiological trait: immune function. Thus, I tested the following competing hypotheses. First, digesting animals may upregulate their immune systems due to increased microbial exposure from ingested food. This hypothesis predicts that animals will exhibit greater immune function during digestion. Second, digesting animals may downregulate their …