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TL;DR
In the caterpillar Manduca sexta, muscle tissue mounts an immune-like gene expression response to a pathogen challenge, but this response costs muscle energy resources (glycogen) and leads to a weakened anti-predator strike.
The Journal of Experimental Biology · 10 authors, 1 centre
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In the caterpillar Manduca sexta, muscle tissue mounts an immune-like gene expression response to a pathogen challenge, but this response costs muscle energy resources (glycogen) and leads to a weakened anti-predator strike.
This preclinical laboratory study on the caterpillar Manduca sexta investigated whether intersegmental muscle participates in an immune response and the associated costs. Key findings show that immune challenge upregulated immune-related genes (e.g., toll-1, attacin-1) in muscle. The authors conclude that muscle mounts an immune response, potentially producing antimicrobial peptides, but this multitasking depletes shared energy resources, creating a physiological trade-off that impairs anti-predator behavior. A limitation is that the direct mechanism linking immune activation to glycogen loss remains unclear. The study demonstrates a whole-organism cost of infection, where resources are allocated to immunity at the expense of other physiological functions.