D3260: The effects of bacteriophage transfer through trophallaxis within Campanotus pennsylvanicus colonies

Bacteriophages are viruses that must parasitize bacteria cells in order to reproduce, which consequently destroys the bacteria. (D’Herelle, 1931). Bacteriophage therapy has proven effective to treating bacterial infections in mammals (Nath et al., 2016) (Watanabe et. Al., 2006). As well as improving the survival rates of insects exposed to lethal doses of bacteria (Apidianiakis & Rahme, 2009) (Takemura-Uchiyama et. al., 2013). The importance of developing bacteriophage therapy to be a supplement to antibiotic use would assuage concerns of antibiotic resistance. There has been little to no research to ascertain the benefits of the natural reproductive mechanisms of the bacteriophage to immunize living hosts to bacterial pathogens. Eusocial insects have many dyadic interactions which make them nice models for exploring mass immunization. One study found that when adult honeybees were exposed to bacteriophages they can successfully transfer the phages to the larvae through the bee-larvae feed chain, but few of the transferred phages were viable (Ribeiro et. Al., 2019). For our study, we used ant colonies as the models because the members directly immune prime each other through trophallaxis (Rosengaus, Malak, & MacKintosh, 2013). We exposed a group of worker ants to bacteriophages that lyse Serratia Marcescens and paired the exposed ants to naïve colony members to perform trophallaxis. Then, we observed the survival rate, post infection, of the naïve ants paired with workers exposed to bacteriophages and compared them to the control group. Our results showed an improved survival rate among the naïve that received trophallaxis.