Effects of symbiotic status on cellular immunity dynamics in Sitophilus oryzae
Résumé
Many insects maintain intracellular symbiosis with mutualistic bacteria that improve their adaptive
capabilities in nutritionally poor habitats. Adaptation of insect immune systems to such associations has
been shown in several symbiotic consortia, including that of the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae with the
gammaproteobacterium Sodalis pierantonius. Although authors have mostly focused on the role of humoral
immunity in host-symbiont interactions, recent studies suggest that symbiotic bacteria may also
interfere with the cellular, hemocyte-based, immunity. Here, we have explored hemocyte dynamics in
S. oryzae in the presence or absence of S. pierantonius, and in response to bacterial challenges. We have
identified five morphotypes within larval hemocytes, whose abundance and morphometry drastically
change along insect development. We show that hemocytes make part of the weevil immune system by
responding to pathogenic infections. In contrast with previous results on other insect species, however,
our analyses did not reveal any symbiotic-dependent modulation of the hemocyte global population.