Reconfiguring an immune response The deep sea is a vast and generally empty environment. Finding a mate can thus be difficult. In response to this situation, one group of deep-sea denizens, the anglerfishes, have evolved a system in which males attach to females, in some cases permanently, through fusion of tissues and connection of circulatory systems. Such attachment greatly challenges the immune systems of the fish. Swann et al. found that these challenges have been met by the evolution of increasingly reduced immune responses among anglerfish species, including the loss of what have been considered essential vertebrate responses. These shifts suggest that vertebrate immune systems may be more flexible over evolutionary time than was previously thought. Science, this issue p. 1608 Anglerfish display altered immune responses to accommodate an unusual male attachment reproductive strategy. Sexual parasitism has evolved as a distinctive mode of reproduction among deep-sea anglerfishes. The permanent attachment of males to host females observed in these species represents a form of anatomical joining, which is otherwise unknown in nature. Pronounced modifications to immune facilities are associated with this reproductive trait. The genomes of species with temporarily attaching males lack functional aicda genes that underpin affinity maturation of antibodies. Permanent attachment is associated with additional alterations, culminating in the loss of functional rag genes in some species, abolishing somatic diversification of antigen receptor genes, the hallmark of canonical adaptive immunity. In anglerfishes, coevolution of innate and adaptive immunity has been disentangled, implying that an alternative form of immunity supported the emergence of this evolutionarily successful group of vertebrates.

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性寄生的免疫遗传学

重新配置免疫反应 深海是一个广阔而空旷的环境。因此，寻找配偶可能很困难。为应对这种情况，一群深海居民，即琵琶鱼，进化出一种系统，在该系统中，雄性通过组织融合和循环系统的连接，依附于雌性，在某些情况下是永久性的。这种附着极大地挑战了鱼的免疫系统。斯旺等人。发现这些挑战已经通过琵琶鱼物种免疫反应日益减弱的进化来应对，包括失去了被认为是必不可少的脊椎动物反应。这些变化表明脊椎动物免疫系统在进化过程中可能比以前认为的更灵活。科学，这个问题 p。1608 琵琶鱼显示出改变的免疫反应，以适应一种不寻常的雄性依附生殖策略。性寄生已经进化为深海琵琶鱼的一种独特繁殖方式。在这些物种中观察到的雄性与宿主雌性的永久依附代表了一种解剖学连接形式，这在自然界中是未知的。对免疫设施的显着修改与这种生殖特性有关。具有暂时附着雄性的物种的基因组缺乏支持抗体亲和力成熟的功能性 aicda 基因。永久性附着与其他改变有关，最终导致某些物种中功能性 rag 基因的丧失，从而消除抗原受体基因的体细胞多样化，这是典型适应性免疫的标志。在琵琶鱼中，