Basal metabolic rate and the evolution of the adaptive immune system
Författare
Summary, in English
Vertebrates have evolved an adaptive immune system in addition to the ancestral innate immune system. It is often assumed that a trade-off between costs and benefits of defence governs the evolution of immunological defence, but the costs and benefits specific to the adaptive immune system are poorly known. We used genetically engineered mice lacking lymphocytes (i.e. mice without adaptive, but with innate, immunity) as a model of the ancestral state in the evolution of the vertebrate immune system. To investigate if the magnitude of adaptive defence is constrained by the energetic costs of producing lymphocytes etc., we compared the basal metabolic rate of normal and lymphocyte-deficient mice. We found that lymphocyte-deficient mice had a higher basal metabolic rate than normal mice with both innate and adaptive immune defence. This suggests that the evolution of the adaptive immune system has not been constrained by energetic costs. Rather, it should have been favoured by the energy savings associated with a combination of innate and adaptive immune defence.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2002
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
817-821
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
Volym
269
Issue
1493
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Royal Society Publishing
Ämne
- Immunology in the medical area
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Immunology
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
- Life History and Functional Ecology
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1471-2954