DOI: 10.5061/dryad.79cnp5hxp
title: Genetic covariance in immune measures and pathogen resistance in decorated crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) is sex and pathogen specific

description: Insects are important models for studying immunity in an ecological and
 evolutionary context. Yet, most empirical work on the insect immune system
 has come from phenotypic studies meaning we have a limited understanding
 of the genetic architecture of immune function in the sexes. We use nine
 highly inbred lines to thoroughly examine the genetic relationships
 between a suite of commonly used immune assays (haemocyte count, implant
 encapsulation, total phenoloxidase activity, antibacterial zone of
 inhibition, pathogen clearance) and resistance to infection by three
 generalist insect pathogens (the gram-negative bacterium Serratia
 marcescens, the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus cereus and the fungus
 Metarhizium robertsii) in male and female Gryllodes sigillatus. There were
 consistent positive genetic correlations between haemocyte count,
 antibacterial and phenoloxidase activity and resistance to S. marcescens
 in both sexes, but these relationships were less consistent for resistance
 to B. cereus and M. robertsii. In addition, the clearance of S. marcescens
 was genetically correlated with the resistance to all three pathogens in
 both sexes. Genetic correlations between resistances to the different
 pathogen species were inconsistent, indicating that resistance to one
 pathogen does not necessarily mean resistance to another. Finally, while
 there is ample genetic (co)variance in immune assays and pathogen
 resistance, these genetic estimates differed across the sexes and many of
 these measures were not genetically correlated across the sexes suggesting
 that these measures could evolve independently in the sexes. Our finding
 that the genetic architecture of immune function is sex and pathogen
 specific suggests that the evolution of immune function in male and female
 G. sigillatus is likely to be complex. Similar quantitative genetic
 studies that measure a large number of assays and resistance to multiple
 pathogens in both sexes are needed to ascertain if this complexity extends
 to other species.
description: We measured several immune assays (hemocyte count, phenyloxidase
 activity, zone of clearance and encapsulation ability), clearance of 3
 pathogens (<em>Serratia marcescens</em>, <em>Bacillus
 cereus</em> and <em>Metarhizium robertsii</em>), and
 survival/resistance to these 3 pathogens in male and female inbred cricket
 lines and the outbred population that they were derived from. We used this
 raw data to estimate the genetic basis of these immune traits and how they
 genetically covary within and between the sexes. The immune traits
 measured in the outbred population was used as a baseline for
 comparison.
description: There are no missing data in the data set. The abbreviations for
 the column names are as follows: HC = hemocyte count, PO = phenyloxidase
 activity, ZC = zonal clearance, ENCAP = encapsulation ability, body size =
 pronotum width of the cricket, Serratia_clearance = clearance of
 <em>Serratia macescens, </em>Bacillus_clearance = clearance
 of<em> Bacillus cereus, </em>Metarhizium_clearance = clerance
 of<em> Metarhizium robertsii, Serratia_survival =
 survival/resistance to </em><em>Serratia macescens,
 Bacillus_survival = </em><em>survival/resistance to Bacillus
 cereus, Metarhizium_survival = </em><em>survival/resistance to
 </em><em>Metarhizium robertsii</em>