London, Jan 7 (Inditop.com) No native bird has gone extinct in the Galapagos Islands as the birds produce antibodies to fight alien invaders like parasites, research says.
University of Utah (U-U) biologists found that finches — the birds Darwin studied — developed antibodies against two parasites that moved to the Galapagos, suggesting the birds can fight the alien invaders.
With the discovery that the medium ground finches produce antibodies aimed specifically at the parasites – a pox virus and a nest fly – “the next step is to determine if this immune response is helping the birds or hurting them,” says U-U biology professor Dale Clayton, who led the new study.
One cannot assume the immune response will help because antibodies also can be involved in autoimmune diseases and allergy symptoms.
Nevertheless the new study is significant because “these finches are icons of evolution, and the icons are in danger of extinction,” says Clayton, according to a U-U release.
“Are they sitting ducks? Are they sitting finches? To answer that, the first question is, does the immune system recognise the parasites? And this study shows, yes it does.”
Clayton says a key finding is that “wild species can respond to invasive parasites with which they have no history of association. The immune system has been activated”.
Development of antibodies “shows the birds may have the ability to fight back”, says Jen Koop, a U-U doctoral candidate and study co-author.
The study was published online Wednesday in PLoS ONE.
