Exploring the role of microbiota in mediating sexually dimorphic infection outcomes in mealworm beetles

Sexually dimorphic responses to pathogenic infections in animals may stem from sex-specific differences in their life history and immune investment. Recent evidence highlights that such sex-specific variations in immune responses can also be critically regulated by microbiota. However, direct experiments to test how microbiota jointly impacts sex-specific immunity and vulnerability to pathogens are still limited. To this end, we used Tenebrio molitor beetles to first establish that sexes appear to differ in their microbiota composition and infection responses. Females were more vulnerable to bacterial infections and carried a higher bacterial load than males. When we depleted the microbiota, only females improved their post-infection survival, leading to a decrease in the level of sex specific divergence in infection outcomes. Males, on the other hand, remained unaffected. Microbiota reconstitution (via feeding on faecal matter) of microbiota-depleted females increased their susceptibil..., , # Data from: Role of microbiota in mediating sexually dimorphic infection outcomes in mealworm beetles

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.brv15dvmk](10.5061/dryad.brv15dvmk)

## Description of the data and file structure

We used *Tenebrio molitor* beetles for our experimental assays. We measured two phenotypic responses (survival post-infection and bacterial load within host), two immune parameters (gene expression and phenoloxidase response), and microbiota profiling.

### Files and variables

#### File: Dataset_repository.xlsx

**Description:** Each datasheet is labelled corresponding to the figure number in the main manuscript or supplementary information

##### Variables

* For the survival data, we have one response variables-lifespan (in hours)
* For the bacterial load data, we have one response variable- bacterial load
* For the gene expression data, we have one response variable- fold change
* For the phenoloxidase data, we have one response variable-slope value
* For the microbiota ...,