Storage of Carotenoids in Crustaceans as an Adaptation to Modulate Immunopathology and Optimize Immunological and Life‐History Strategies
Résumé
Why do some invertebrates store so much carotenoids in their tissues? Storage of carotenoids may not simply be passive and dependent on their environmental availability, as storage variation exists at various taxonomic scales, including among individuals within species. While the strong antioxidant and sometimes immune-stimulating properties of carotenoids might be beneficial enough to cause the evolution of features improving their assimilation and storage, they may also have fitness downsides explaining why massive carotenoid storage is not universal. Here, we examine the functional and ecological implications of carotenoid storage for the evolution of invertebrate innate immune defences, especially in crustaceans, which massively store carotenoids for unclear reasons. We propose three testable hypotheses about the role of carotenoid storage in immunological (resistance and tolerance) and lifehistory strategies (with a focus on ageing), which may ultimately explain the storage of large amounts of these pigments in a context of host-pathogen interactions.
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