Simms, Dawn M., B.S., Louisiana State University, 1997
Master of Science, Spring Commencement, 2013
Major: Entomology
Effects of Caste on the Constitutive and Induced Expression of Genes Associated with Immunity and Detoxification in Formosan Subterranean Termites
Thesis directed by Associate Professor Claudia Husseneder
Pages in thesis, 74. Words in abstract, 268.
ABSTRACT
Formosan subterranean termites (FSTs) live in dense populations and nest conditions that are conducive to microbial growth. Furthermore, termites are exposed to potential toxic substances in the soil and in their lignocellulose diet. These characteristics, in combination with the specialized caste system of FSTs, make this termite a valuable model for studying insect immunity and detoxification mechanisms. Since workers forage for food, feed their nest mates and care for the brood, they are more likely than soldiers to encounter pathogens and/or toxins. They must, therefore, be better able to defend against these challenges. This study tested the hypothesis that genes associated with immunity and/or detoxification via xenobiotic metabolism in FST have higher constitutive expression level and/or are more readily inducible in workers than in soldiers. FST workers and soldiers were challenged either by bacterial injection or by no-choice feeding with a sublethal concentration (0.5%) of Phenobarbital. Constitutive and induced expression of 5 putative immune response and 5 detoxification genes was measured via quantitative real time qRT-PCR and compared within and between 1) colonies, 2) treatment groups and 3) castes via non-parametric, multivariate analysis of variance. Of the 10 total target genes, none were found to be differentially expressed as an effect of colony. However, treatment type had a significant (P< 0.05) effect on the expression of each of the 8 target genes that were inducible. Caste effects on expression levels were significant in 6 of the 8 inducible target genes. In many cases, target genes were only inducible in the worker caste. Overall, constitutive and induced expression of target genes was significantly higher in workers than in soldiers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04152013-133156 |
| Date | 28 April 2013 |
| Creators | Simms, Dawn M. |
| Contributors | Husseneder, Claudia, Foil, Lane, Ottea, James |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04152013-133156/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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