DOI: 10.5061/dryad.t2850
title: Data from: Immune priming specificity within and across generations reveals the range of pathogens affecting evolution of immunity in an insect

description: 1. Many organisms can improve their immune response as a function of their
 immunological experience or that of their parents. This phenomenon, called
 immune priming, has likely evolved from repetitive challenges by the same
 pathogens during the host lifetime or across generation. 2. All pathogens
 may not expose host to the same probability of re-infection and immune
 priming is expected to evolve from pathogens exposing the host to the
 greatest probability of re-infection. Under this hypothesis, the priming
 response to these pathogens should be specifically more efficient and less
 costly than to others. 3. We examined the specificity of immune priming
 within and across generations in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, by
 comparing survival of individuals to infection with bacteria according to
 their own immunological experience or that of their mother with these
 bacteria. 4. We found that insects primed with Gram-positive bacteria
 became highly protected against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative
 bacterial infections, mainly due to an induced persistent antibacterial
 response, which did not exist in insects primed with Gram-negative
 bacteria. Insects primed with Gram-positive bacteria also exhibited
 enhanced concentration of hemocytes, but their implication in acquired
 resistance was not conclusive because of the persistent antibacterial
 activity in the hemolymph. Offspring maternally primed with Gram-positive
 and Gram-negative bacteria exhibited similarly improved immunity, whatever
 the bacteria used for the infection. Such maternal protection was costly
 in the larval development of offspring, but this cost was lower for
 offspring maternally primed with Gram-positive bacteria. 5. While T.
 molitor can develop some levels of primed response to Gram-negative
 bacteria, the priming response to Gram-positive bacteria was more
 efficient and less costly. We concluded that Gram-positive bacterial
 pathogens were of great importance in the evolution of immune priming in
 this insect species.
description: Characterization of
 pathogen specificity and of the immune effectors associated to immune
 priming within and across generation in Tenebrio molitorThe seven data files
 provided correspond to two separate sets of three successive experiments
 to study immune priming within and across generations in Tenebrio molitor.
 Each set of experiments aimed to test for specificity of resistance to
 different bacteria and examined the immune effectors involved in each type
 of immune priming. Individually primed
 (JAE-2016-00718-IndivPrimingSurvival) or maternally primed insects
 (JAE-2016-00718-TGIPSurvival) with inactivated bacteria (Priming treatment
 or Maternal priming treatment, respectively; Bt: Bacillus thuringiensis,
 Ec: Escherichia coli, Sa: Staphylococcus aureus, Se: Serratia entomophila
 or PBS: Phosphate Buffer Saline solution), were then infected (Infection
 treatment and Offspring infection treatment, respectively) with the same
 bacteria used for the priming treatments, but alive. Survival was recorded
 for 14 days post infection. Furthermore, development time of maternally
 primed offspring was recorded (JAE-2016-00718-TGIPLarvalDevelopment).
 Changes in immune parameters of T. molitor caused by individual
 (JAE-2016-00718-IndivPrimingImmuneEffectors) or maternal immune priming
 (JAE-2016-00718-TGIPImmuneEffectors) were tested by repeated measures
 before and 3 days after an immune challenge, with either inactivated B.
 thuringiensis or S. entomophila. Changes in hemocyte concentration
 (Hemocyte), both the activity of naturally activated phenoloxidase enzymes
 only (PO) and the activity of the proenzymes in addition to that of
 naturally activated phenoloxidase enzymes (Total-PO), and antibacterial
 peptide activity (ZI) were measured for each sample before and after the
 immune challenge. Finally, we tested survival of primed T. molitor adults
 (JAE-2016-00718-IndivPrimingPhagoBeads) and survival of offspring from
 primed mother (JAE-2016-00718-TGIPPhagoBeads) to bacterial infection, when
 phagocytosis was blocked by the injection of polystyrene beads (Beads
 injection treatment). Insects were individually or maternally primed with
 either B. thuringiensis (Bt) or S. entomophila (Se).JAE-2016-00718.zip