Age-Dependent Immune Defense Against Beauveria bassiana in Long- and Short-Lived Drosophila Populations
2025
Elnaz Bagheri | Han Yin | Arnie Lynn C. Bengo | Kshama Ekanath Rai | Taryn Conyers | Robert Courville | Mansour Abdoli | Molly K. Burke | Parvin Shahrestani
Aging in sexually reproducing organisms is shaped by the declining force of natural selection after reproduction begins. In Drosophila melanogaster, experimental evolution shows that altering the age of reproduction shifts the timing of aging. Using the Drosophila experimental evolution population (DEEP) resource, which includes long- and short- lived populations evolved under distinct reproductive schedules, we investigated how immune defense against Beauveria bassiana changes with age and evolved lifespan. We tested survival post-infection at multiple ages and examined genomic differentiation for immune-related genes. Both population types showed age-related declines in immune defense. Long-lived populations consistently exhibited age-specific defense when both long- and short-lived populations were tested. Genomic comparisons revealed thousands of differentiated loci, yet no enrichment for canonical immune genes or overlap with gene sets from studies of direct selection for immunity. These results suggest that enhanced immune defense can evolve alongside extended lifespan, likely via general physiological robustness rather than traditional immune pathways. A more detailed analysis may reveal that selection for lifespan favors tolerance-based mechanisms that reduce infection damage without triggering immune activation, in contrast to direct selection for resistance. Our findings demonstrate the utility of experimentally evolved populations for dissecting the genetic architecture of aging and immune defense to inform strategies to mitigate age-related costs associated with immune activation.
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