Dr. Shelley Adamo
My research focuses on two main areas:
1. the interactions between immune responses and behaviour in insects
As in vertebrates, invertebrate immune systems and nervous systems interact. My students and I study the how and why of these interactions. Most of our studies focus on the cricket Gryllus texensis.
For example, we have found that 'stress' (e.g. flying or fighting) induces a decline in disease resistance in crickets. We are now examining how stress induces immunosuppression. We are also exploring the possible adaptive functions of this response.
We are also interested in how parasites are able to manipulate host behaviour. In some cases, the parasite alters host behaviour indirectly, by changing the interactions between the host's immune system and its nervous system. We are studying how a parasitic wasp suppresses feeding in its host, the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta.
We use a variety techniques during these studies including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), electrophysiology, enzyme and protein studies and video analysis.
2. cephalopod behavioural physiology
Cephalopods are the only invertebrates with a vertebrate-like brain. Does it function much like our own? How has the cephalopod's molluscan heritage influenced its behavioural biology? We work with the cuttlefish Sepia officinalis to study these questions. The lab has a variety of equipment available for cuttlefish studies including an ultrasound machine and video equipment. We maintain animals in the Aquatron marine facility.
Both of these projects are funded by NSERC.
Please contact Dr. Adamo if you have any questions about these studies.
Recent Publications
Adamo SA and Spiteri RJ (in press). He's healthy, but will he survive the plague? Possible constraints on female choice for disease resistance in addition to current health. Animal Behaviour .
Lefevre T, Adamo SA , Biron DG, Hughes D, Thomas F (in press) Invasion of the body snatchers: the diversity and evolution of manipulative strategies in host-parasite interactions. Advances in Parasitology.
Adamo SA (2008) Bidirectional connections between the immune system and the nervous system in insects. In: Insect Immunology . Ed. by N. Beckage, Academic Press: San Diego, pp. 129-149.
Adamo SA (2008) Norepinephrine and octopamine: linking stress and immune function across phyla. Invertebrate Survival Journal . 5: 12-19
Adamo SA , Roberts JL, Easy R, Ross NW (2008) Competition between immune function and lipid transport for the protein apolipophorin III leads to stress-induced immunosuppression in crickets. Journal of Experimental Biology . 211: 531-538.
Adamo SA , Fidler T and Forestell C (2007) Illness-induced anorexia and its possible function in the caterpillar Manduca sexta . Brain, Behavior and Immunity , 21: 292-300
Shoemaker KL and Adamo SA (2007) Adult female crickets Gryllus texensis maintain reproductive output after repeated immune challenges. Physiological Entomology . 32: 113-120
Shoemaker KL, Parsons NM and Adamo SA (2006) Egg-laying behaviour following infection in the cricket Gryllus texensis . Canadian Journal of Zoology , 84: 412-418.
Adamo SA (2006) Comparative Psychoneuroimmunology: Evidence from the insects. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews , 5: 128-140.
Adamo SA and Parsons NM (2006) The emergency life-history stage and immunity in the cricket Gryllus texensis . Animal Behaviour , 72: 235-244.
Adamo SA , Ehgoetz K, Sangster C and Whitehorne I. (2006) Signaling to the enemy? Body pattern expression and its plasticity during hunting in the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda). Biological Bulletin , 210: 192-200.
King AJ and Adamo SA (2006) The ventilatory, cardiac, and behavioural responses of resting cuttlefish ( Sepia officinalis Linnaeus) to sudden visual stimuli. Journal of Experimental Biology . 209: 1101-1111.
Palmer ME, Calvé R, and Adamo SA (2006) Response of female cuttlefish Sepia officinalis (Cephalopoda) to mirrors and conspecifics: evidence for signaling in female cuttlefish. Animal Cognition . 9: 151- 155.
Shoemaker KL, Parsons NM, and Adamo SA (2006) Mating enhances parasite resistance in the cricket, Gryllus texensis . Animal Behaviour , 71: 371-380
Adamo SA (2005) Parasitic suppression of feeding in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta : parallels with feeding depression after an immune challenge. Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology 60: 185-197
Adamo SA and Spiteri R (2005) Female choice for male immunocompetence - when is it worth it? Behavioral Ecology , 16: 871-879.
King AJ, Henderson SM, Schmidt MH, Cole AG, and Adamo SA (2005). Using ultrasound to understand vascular and mantle contributions to venous return in the cephalopod Sepia officinalis Linnaeus. Journal of Experimental Biology . 208: 2071-2082.
Thomas F, Adamo SA and Moore J. (2005) Parasitic manipulation: where are we and where should we go? Behavioral Processes 68 : 185-199
Cole PD and Adamo SA (2005). Cuttlefish ( Sepia officinalis : Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning. Animal Cognition 8 : 27-30
Adamo SA (2004) How should behavioural ecologists interpret measurements of immunity? Animal Behaviour . 68 : 1443-1449.
Adamo SA (2004) Estimating disease resistance in insects: phenoloxidase and lysozyme-like activity and disease resistance in the cricket Gryllus texensis . Journal of Insect Physiology. 50 : 209-216.