Ecoimmunology
Encyclopedia
as called Ecological Immunology, Wild Immunology
Ecoimmunology is an interdisciplinary field combining aspects of immunology
with ecology
, biology
, physiology
, and evolution
. The field of ecoimmunology, while young, seeks to give an ultimate perspective for proximate mechanisms of immunology.
works hard to control variation (inbred/domestic model organisms, parasite-free environments, etc.) and asks questions about mechanisms and functionality of the immune system using a reductionist
method. Comparative immunology investigates the major changes of the immune system among taxa. While ecoimmunology originated from these fields, it is distinguished by its focus to describe and explain natural variation in immune functions, and, more specifically, why and how biotic and abiotic factors contribute to variation in immunity in animals. Study of the trade-offs between immunity and other physiological mechanisms are a central study topic within the field, but have been expanded to include roles in species and individual variation, sex, social aspects, and mating system differences, and progress is also being made to develop methods to explore this variation. Many studies involve in vivo
laboratory experiments, but there have been recent calls for immunologists to study immune variation more in wild animals in particular. Multiple institutes engage in ecoimmunological research, such as the Center for Immunity, Infection and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh
and the Max Planck Institute for Immunoecology and Migration. The US National Science Foundation
has funded a Research Coordination Network) to bring methodological and conceptual unity to the field of ecoimmunology.
for sexually selected traits. Folstad and Karter proposed the immunocompetence
handicap hypothesis, whereby testosterone acts as a mediator of immunosuppression and thus keeps sexually-selected traits honest. While there is only moderate observational or experimental evidence supporting this claim up until now, the paper itself was one of the first links to be made suggesting a cost to immunity requiring trade-offs between it and other physiological processes. In 1996, a foundational paper for the field invoked trade-offs, the allocation of limited resources among competing, costly physiological functions, as a prime cause of variation in immunity. More recently, ecoimmunology has been the theme of two special issues in peer-reviewed journals, one in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and the other in Functional Ecology
(see External links).
Ecoimmunology is an interdisciplinary field combining aspects of immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
with ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
, and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
. The field of ecoimmunology, while young, seeks to give an ultimate perspective for proximate mechanisms of immunology.
Description
Classical, or mainstream, immunologyImmunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
works hard to control variation (inbred/domestic model organisms, parasite-free environments, etc.) and asks questions about mechanisms and functionality of the immune system using a reductionist
Reductionism
Reductionism can mean either an approach to understanding the nature of complex things by reducing them to the interactions of their parts, or to simpler or more fundamental things or a philosophical position that a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts, and that an account of it can...
method. Comparative immunology investigates the major changes of the immune system among taxa. While ecoimmunology originated from these fields, it is distinguished by its focus to describe and explain natural variation in immune functions, and, more specifically, why and how biotic and abiotic factors contribute to variation in immunity in animals. Study of the trade-offs between immunity and other physiological mechanisms are a central study topic within the field, but have been expanded to include roles in species and individual variation, sex, social aspects, and mating system differences, and progress is also being made to develop methods to explore this variation. Many studies involve in vivo
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
laboratory experiments, but there have been recent calls for immunologists to study immune variation more in wild animals in particular. Multiple institutes engage in ecoimmunological research, such as the Center for Immunity, Infection and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
and the Max Planck Institute for Immunoecology and Migration. The US National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
has funded a Research Coordination Network) to bring methodological and conceptual unity to the field of ecoimmunology.
Seminal papers
One of the field’s most seminal papers, by Folstad and Karter, was a response to Hamilton and Zuk’s famous paper on the handicap hypothesisHandicap principle
The handicap principle is a hypothesis originally proposed in 1975 by biologist Amotz Zahavi to explain how evolution may lead to "honest" or reliable signaling between animals who have an obvious motivation to bluff or deceive each other...
for sexually selected traits. Folstad and Karter proposed the immunocompetence
Immunocompetence
Immunocompetence is the ability of the body to produce a normal immune response following exposure to an antigen. Immunocompetence is the opposite of immunodeficiency or immuno-incompetent or immuno-compromised...
handicap hypothesis, whereby testosterone acts as a mediator of immunosuppression and thus keeps sexually-selected traits honest. While there is only moderate observational or experimental evidence supporting this claim up until now, the paper itself was one of the first links to be made suggesting a cost to immunity requiring trade-offs between it and other physiological processes. In 1996, a foundational paper for the field invoked trade-offs, the allocation of limited resources among competing, costly physiological functions, as a prime cause of variation in immunity. More recently, ecoimmunology has been the theme of two special issues in peer-reviewed journals, one in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and the other in Functional Ecology
Functional Ecology (journal)
Functional Ecology is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal on organismal ecology publishing papers on physiological, behavioural, and evolutionary ecology. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Ecological Society. Its 2010 impact factor is 4.645, ranking the journal...
(see External links).
External links
- Ecological Immunology Theme Issue of Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society B Table of Contents
- Special issue: Ecological Immunology, Functional Ecology Table of Contents