Immunological and locomotor response of individuals of the anuran species Xenopus laevis and Xenopus allofraseri injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a pro-inflammatory stimulus

• Grant number: 20/14174-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date until: March 01, 2021
• End date until: August 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Physiology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Arturo Navas Iannini
• Grantee: Thaysa Gomes de Oliveira
• Supervisor: Anthony Rene Guillaume Herrel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/18250-0 - Termorregulatory, food and locomotor response of individuals of anurus Lithobates catesbeianus species injected with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) as a pro-inflammatory stimulus, BP.MS

Abstract

Anurans display different types of locomotion that are related to their ecology and habitat use. Locomotion is generally regarded as a crucial activity for survival and as an important component of the energy budget. Given its high energetic cost, locomotion can be compromised by other physiological processes. One example is the response to an infection (i.e. an immune response). Consequently, immune responses and locomotion may be involved in trade-offs regarding the allocation of energy, and such a trade-off can impose limits on either immune responses or activity patterns. The allocation of energy to locomotion reduces the total energy available for the activation of the immune system, and conversely, a depressed immune system may free up energy for activity, for example, linked to dispersal. Therefore, the equilibrium between energy invested to locomotion versus immunity is likely to evolve with some species displaying depressed immune responses and enhanced locomotor capacity. This may be the case in invasive species where the spread of the species at the range edge is often associated with a high dispersal capacity. The current project aims to test whether the relationship between immunological responses and locomotion differs among an invasive species (Xenopus laevis) and a non-invasive congeneric (Xenopus allofraseri). We will use an experimental approach involving analyses of locomotor performance of frogs before and after a simulated infection mediated by injection of Lipopolysaccharides of the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria (LPS). (AU)