Pedro Vale

@pfvale.bsky.social

2298 Followers 1266 Following

Ecology & Evolution of Infection Dynamics lab, Edinburgh, UK https://pedrovale.bio.ed.ac.uk/

Experimental setup and locomotor activity across immune challenge treatments. (A) Schematic representation of experimental setup. (B) Individual fly activity timeseries (faded lines) and treatment mean (bold line) plotted as mean activity (number of beam breaks per minute) over 400 hours post-infection for each treatment group (naive, injured, immune stimulated, injured). Sample sizes per sex are annotated in each panel (F = females, M= males). Treatment: naive (blue), injured (orange), immune stimulated (heat-killed Pe - green), infected (live Pe – pink).
A drawing of fruit flies eating and laying eggs in a mix of clean and pathogen-contaminated substrates.
This figure highlights the diversity of avoidance across different species in response to pathogens and parasites. (A) Rainbow trout avoid waters with high concentrations of trematode cercariae, reducing exposure to these parasites. (B) Healthy Caribbean spiny lobsters avoid sharing dens with those infected by viruses, preventing the spread of infection within their communities. (C,D) Avoidance underlies many human public health measures such as social distancing, to minimize the risk of infectious disease contagion. (E) Oystercatchers avoid eating the largest cockles, which are likely to be infested with parasitic helminths. (F,G) Bees and ants (eusocial insects) exhibit complex social behaviours to minimize infection risks. Bees isolate or remove infected individuals from the colony, while ants restructure their social networks to reduce contact with fungal-infected foragers. (H) Sheep avoid food and water sources contaminated with feces, reducing the risk of ingesting parasites that may be present in such environments. (I,J) Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. These model organisms illustrate how detected pathogenic cues can modify behaviour and provide insights into the neurological integration of sensory perception and behavioural response to pathogens. Plants, like Saline latifolia (K), can avoid infection too, for example by flowering for shorter periods to reduce contact with fungal spores transmitted by pollinators. Root compounds of some sorghum (L) lines are associated with reduced germination of parasitic Striga seeds, demonstrating chemical avoidance strategies. (M) Crickets avoid detection by parasitic flies through the selection of variants that cannot sing, disrupting the ability of parasites to locate hosts acoustically. (N) Spongy moths show variability in larval behaviour to avoid virus-contaminated foliage. (O) Lemurs avoid water sources that have an elevated risk of fecal contamination.
An origami Drosophila fruit fly. (image from @origamiorganelles.bsky.social).
The life-cycle of Drosophila melanogaster
Random and scale-free network topology.
The figure summarises a series of experiments, showing a fly receiving an initial exposure to and inactivated bacterial pathogen, followed by a live exposure at different time intervals. This is followed by measurements of fly mortality and internal bacterial loads. There are four panels depicting individual experiments using distinct fly genetic backgrounds.