Physiology of Immunity in the Water Flea <i>Daphnia magna</i>: Environmental and Genetic Aspects of Phenoloxidase Activity

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the ecological correlates of immunocompetence in Daphnia magna (Crustacea, Cladocera), we tested for variation in immune function in relation to feeding conditions, host conditions, and host genotype. We investigated both phenotypic (environmental dependent and condition dependent) as well as genotypic aspects of the prophenoloxidase activating system (Pro-POAS), which has been described as a key factor in invertebrate immunity. Daphnia magna is an ideal study system to disentangle phenotypic and genetic variation because females can reproduce clonally. Well-fed Daphnia showed higher phenoloxidase (PO) activity than Daphnia kept at a low food level. Wounding provoked a higher level of PO activity, indicating that the Pro-POAS was condition dependent. Further, we found clonal variation in PO activity among four clones of D. magna isolated from four different populations. The same four clones were tested for their resistance to the bacterial pathogen Pasteuria ramosa. High resistance corresponded to high PO activity. Our results suggest adaptive variation in PO activity and suggest that its expression is costly. These costs may influence the evolution of the PO activity level and the maintenance of its genotypic variation.