Cold-blooded immunity in a warming world

Global climate change is predicted to increase temperatures worldwide and increase climatic instability. This will significantly impact infectious disease dynamics, altering pathogen distribution and disease intensity.

Ectotherms are particularly susceptible to thermal changes, as they are dependent on the ambient environment to regulate their physiological processes, including the immune response.

Even more so in egg-laying ectotherms, where sensitive early developmental stages in the egg can be significantly impacted by environmental stressors.

This research project will explore the interactions between temperature and host immune response in the Swedish sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), an excellent model species to investigate this subject.

The program will integrate whole genome sequencing, expression analysis and whole genome methylation patterns to study the immune responses and how these are impacted by experimentally manipulating incubation temperatures.

This research project will greatly expand our understanding of how climate warming will impact immunocompetence in temperate species.