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Courtney
Thomason
Department of Biological Sciences
Murray State University
Mentor: Terry
L. Derting
Title of Presentation: The Effects of Diet and Social Stress on
Humoral and Cell-mediated Immunity in Peromyscus leucopus.
Advisor: Terry L. Derting
Program: Biology and Mathematics in Population Studies Research
Fellow
Presented at: Kentucky Academy of Science - First Place award in
Physiology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee at Martin - Murray
State University Sigma Xi Symposium. Tthe work was also presented at the American Society of Mammalogists Meeting, University of New Mexico.
ABSTRACT
Increased anthropogenic disturbance of natural habitats can create greater
physical, nutritional, and social stress than wild animals would normally
experience. Human activities also lead to increasing habitat fragmentation.
As habitats become more fragmented, population densities of wild animals
can change dramatically. Diets can also change, reflecting the disturbed
habitats animals occupy. Previous research on Peromyscus leucopus suggests
that white-footed mice in disturbed areas have ready access to high quality
diets, which can contribute to a stronger immune system. We studied individual
and combined effects of diet quality and density on immunocompetence in
wild-captured adult white-footed mice. We hypothesized that social stress,
in the form of high density, takes a larger a toll on the immune system
than nutritional stress, in the form of low protein. Our objective was
to determine which stressor, or which combination of protein and density
variables, has a greater effect on the immune system in order to better
understand the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on white-footed mouse
populations. Low dietary protein had a significant negative effect on
the cell-mediated immune response in P. leucopus, as compared to their
counterparts fed a high protein diet. White-footed mice housed in pairs
mounted a significantly weaker humoral immune response than those housed
individually. Peromyscus leucopus, known vectors of Lyme disease, are
common in and around residential and agricultural areas. Reduced immunocompetence
resulting from change in diet quality and/or population density may affect
their contribution to transmission of disease to human populations nearby.
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Date Modified July, 2007
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