Immunostimulation of Parasteatoda tepidariorum (Araneae: Theridiidae) in juvenile and adult stages. Immunity reactions to injury with foreign body and Bacillus subtilis infection

PeerJ. 2023 Jul 17:11:e15337. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15337. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

To assess the immune potential of spiders, in the present study juvenile and adult females of Parasteatoda tepidariorum were exposed to Bacillus subtilis infection, injury by a nylon monofilament and a combination of both. The expression level of selected immune-related genes: defensin 1 (PtDEF1), lysozyme 1 (PtLYS1), lysozyme C (PtLYSC), lysozyme M1 (PtLYSM1), autophagy-related protein 101 (PtATG101), dynamin (PtDYN) and heat shock proteins (HSP70) (PtHSPB, PtHSPB2A, PtHSPB2B), production of lysozyme and HSP70 proteins, and hemocytes viability were measured. The obtained results indicated expression of the lysozyme, autophagy-related protein and HSP70 genes in both ontogenetic stages of P. tepidariorum. It has been also shown that the simultaneous action of mechanical and biological factors causes higher level of lysozyme and HSP70, cell apoptosis intensity and lower level of hemocytes viability than in the case of exposure to a single immunostimulant. Moreover, mature females showed stronger early immune responses compared to juveniles.

Keywords: Bacterial infection; Immunocompetence; Immunostimulants; Immunostimulation; Injury; Invertebrate immunity; Parasteatoda tepidariorum; Spider.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / immunology
  • Arthropod Proteins / genetics
  • Arthropod Proteins / immunology
  • Bacillus subtilis* / immunology
  • Female
  • Foreign Bodies* / immunology
  • Gene Expression Regulation / immunology
  • Hemocytes / immunology
  • Spiders* / genetics
  • Spiders* / immunology
  • Spiders* / microbiology

Substances

  • Arthropod Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland (2018/31/N/NZ8/00606). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.