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Title: Bet-hedging in innate and adaptive immune systems
Abstract Immune system evolution is shaped by the fitness costs and trade-offs associated with mounting an immune response. Costs that arise mainly as a function of the magnitude of investment, including energetic and immunopathological costs, are well-represented in studies of immune system evolution. Less well considered, however, are the costs of immune cell plasticity and specialization. Hosts in nature encounter a large diversity of microbes and parasites that require different and sometimes conflicting immune mechanisms for defense, but it takes precious time to recognize and correctly integrate signals for an effective polarized response. In this perspective, we propose that bet-hedging can be a viable alternative to plasticity in immune cell effector function, discuss conditions under which bet-hedging is likely to be an advantageous strategy for different arms of the immune system, and present cases from both innate and adaptive immune systems that suggest bet-hedging at play.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1846260 1953223
PAR ID:
10340620
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health
Volume:
10
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2050-6201
Page Range / eLocation ID:
256 to 265
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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