A critical task in evolutionary genetics is to explain the persistence of heritable variation in fitness-related traits such as immunity. Ecological factors can maintain genetic variation in immunity, but less is known about the role of other factors, such as antagonistic pleiotropy, on immunity. Sexually dimorphic immunity-with females often being more immune-competent-may maintain variation in immunity in dioecious populations. Most eco-immunological studies assess host resistance to parasites rather than the host's ability to maintain fitness during infection (tolerance). Distinguishing between resistance and tolerance is important as they are thought to have markedly different evolutionary and epidemiological outcomes. Few studies have investigated tolerance in animals, and the extent of sexual dimorphism in tolerance is unknown. Using males and females from 50 Drosophila melanogaster genotypes, we investigated possible sources of genetic variation for immunity by assessing both resistance and tolerance to the common bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found evidence of sexual dimorphism and sexual antagonism for resistance and tolerance, and a trade-off between the two traits. Our findings suggest that antagonistic pleiotropy may be a major contributor to variation in immunity, with implications for host-parasite coevolution.
Keywords: antagonistic pleiotropy; host–parasite coevolution; immunity; sexual antagonism; sexual dimorphism.
© 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.