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Title
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Immunocompetence and parasite infestation in a melanistic and normally-coloured population of the lacertid lizard, **Podarcis siculus**
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Author
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Abstract
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| Melanism is the occurrence of individuals that are darker in skin pigmentation than their conspecifics, which is a common colour polymorphism among vertebrates. Due to the pleotropic effects of the POMC gene that is responsible for melanin-based colouration, dark pigmentation often co-varies with a range of other phenotypic traits. Still, not much is known on the link between melanin-based colouration and immunity in lizards. In this study, we examined and compared the immunocompetence and degree of ectoparasite infestation of Podarcis siculus lizards from a fully melanistic population on an islet in the Tyrrhenian Sea, with conspecifics from a normally-coloured population on the mainland. Our findings show that both males and females from the melanistic population were less parasitized by ectoparasites and had a greater cellular immune response to a phytohemagglutinin injection than normally-coloured conspecifics. This outcome is in line with the genetic link hypothesis, which predicts that melanistic individuals will be more resistant to parasites than non-melanistic individuals due to the pleiotropic POMC gene. In addition, we found correlative evidence for a link between ectoparasite load and PHA immune response, but this was only true for males from the normally-coloured population. Immunological data on additional melanistic and non-melanistic populations of Podarcis siculus in the Mediterranean basin would provide us better insight into patterns of co-variation between immunity and melanism in lizards. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Amphibia-reptilia. - -, 1980, currens
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Publication
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2018
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ISSN
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0173-5373
[print]
1568-5381
[online]
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DOI
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10.1163/15685381-20181008
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Volume/pages
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39
:4
(2018)
, p. 471-478
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ISI
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000455989100006
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (open access)
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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