Immunostimulation of (Araneae: Theridiidae) in juvenile and adult stages. Immunity reactions to injury with foreign body and infection.

To assess the immune potential of spiders, in the present study juvenile and adult females of were exposed to infection, injury by a nylon monofilament and a combination of both. The expression level of selected immune-related genes: defensin 1 (Pt), lysozyme 1 (Pt), lysozyme C (Pt), lysozyme M1 (Pt), autophagy-related protein 101 (Pt), dynamin (Pt) and heat shock proteins (HSP70) (Pt, Pt, Pt), production of lysozyme and HSP70 proteins, and hemocytes viability were measured. The obtained results indicated expression of the lysozyme, autophagy-related protein and HSP70 genes in both ontogenetic stages of .