FRENCH, S. S. ; MOORE, M. C. ; Arizona State University; Arizona State University: Effects of stress on immunocompetence in male tree lizards, Urosaurus ornatus

We are interested in how stress effects partitioning of resources among immunocompetence and other organismal functions. However, measuring immunocompetence in a simple, integrated way is a challenge. Recent studies of laboratory rodents show that rate of biopsy healing is a simple, sensitive, integrated measure of stress-sensitive immunocompetence. We investigated the utility of this technique in male tree lizards, Urosaurus ornatus. Laboratory housed male tree lizards received a 3.5mm cutaneous biopsy at the base of the dorsal surface of the tail. In addition, experimental animals were restrained in cloth bags for 60 minutes every day. The biopsies of experimental animals healed significantly more slowly than the biopsies of unrestrained controls. The difference in size of the biopsy between the groups was most pronounced in the first 10 days of healing. We think this is a promising tool to study immunocompetence because it is a simple technique that can be applied to both laboratory and free-living populations and because it measures a biologically relevant response.