Extensive MHC Class II B Gene Duplication in a Passerine, the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)

Bollmer, Jennifer L.; Dunn, Peter O.; Whittingham, Linda A.; Wimpee, Charles F.

doi:10.1093/jhered/esq018

Cited by 73 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 104 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As in other passerines, MHC genes in the common yellowthroat are highly duplicated [41] and our primers amplify multiple loci at once. In this study, a single individual could have up to 18 class I and 46 class II sequences, which implies at least 9 and 23 loci, respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of similarity (or compatibility), we expected the male mated to a female to possess a relatively lower degree of MHC similarity to the female than males that were not mated to her. We tested these predictions using 454 pyrosequencing, because common yellowthroats have an unusually high number of MHC gene duplications compared with other species [41]. Recent studies indicate that pyrosequencing provides more accurate estimates of MHC variation than older methods for species with high gene copy number [42,43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social and extra-pair mating in relation to major histocompatibility complex variation in common yellowthroats

et al. 2012

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Females are thought to gain better-quality genes for their offspring by mating with particular males. Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) play a critical role in adaptive immunity, and several studies have examined female mate choice in relation to MHC variation. In common yellowthroats, females prefer males that have larger black facial masks, an ornament associated with MHC variation, immune function and condition. Here we also tested whether mating patterns are directly correlated with MHC diversity or similarity. Using pyrosequencing, we found that the presence of extra-pair young in the brood was not related to male MHC diversity or similarity between the female and her within-pair mate. Furthermore, extra-pair sires did not differ in overall diversity from males they cuckolded, or in their similarity to the female. MHC diversity is extremely high in this species, and it may limit the ability of females to assess MHC variation in males. Thus, mating may be based on ornaments, such as mask size, which are better indicators of overall male health and genetic quality.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social and extra-pair mating in relation to major histocompatibility complex variation in common yellowthroats

et al. 2012

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…MHC genes have been partly characterized in several passerine bird species (Bollmer et al 2010), including the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus (Schut et al 2011, Wutzler et al 2012. Infection status and infection intensity are complementary measurements of parasite infection.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

MHC‐I provides both quantitative resistance and susceptibility to blood parasites in blue tits in the wild

Aguilar

Westerdahl

Puente

et al. 2016

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are central for the adaptive immune response against parasites. Here, we investigated potential associations among MHC-I alleles and blood parasite infections in a natural breeding population of a passerine bird, the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleu s, in central Spain. We screened both infection status (presence/absence of infection) and infection intensity to the pathogenic blood parasites Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon . Th ree MHC-I alleles (UA104, UA108 and UA117) were associated with higher or lower infection intensities by Leucocytozoon . Interestingly, these associations were dependent on age and were found both among young and adult birds. No MHC alleles were associated with infection intensity by Haemoproteus parasites. In addition, no signifi cant relationships were detected between infection status by Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon infections and MHC alleles. Th e very high prevalence of these two parasites in our study population (79 -100%) poses challenges to identify associations with infection status and also suggests that clearance of infections may be rare. In conclusion, associations between specifi c MHC-I alleles and Leucocytozoon parasites were related to either high or low infection intensities, and hence increased susceptibility or resistance to infection.

show abstract

“…A phylogenetic tree indicated that 15 of the 24 identified alleles either fell into a cluster of putative non-classical sequences (exhibiting limited polymorphisms) or contained stop codons (see Figure S1 in Supplementary Material; Sutton et al 2013). The total number of sequences per individual ranged from 11-23, potentially indicating the simultaneous amplification of 12 MHC class II B loci, a high value that is characteristic of passerine species (Bollmer et al 2010). The number of classical alleles per individual ranged from four to nine; our main MHC analyses focused on these …”

Section: Overall Mhc Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential patterns of diversity at microsatellite, MHC, and TLR loci in bottlenecked South Island saddleback populations

Knafler¹,

Grueber²,

Sutton³

et al. 2017

NZ J Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

For populations that experienced historical population bottlenecks, subsequent contemporary bottlenecks may continue to degrade genetic diversity at loci that are still variable. However, it is currently unclear how different types of contemporary bottlenecks may affect diversity at functional versus neutral loci. In this study, we examine genetic diversity of microsatellite, major histocompatibility complex (MHC), and toll-like receptor (TLR) loci of three New Zealand South Island saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus) populations: Big Island, Kaimohu Island and Motuara Island. One population, Motuara, experienced two sets of contemporary bottlenecks (translocation event followed by a disease-outbreak and population crash) and was sampled in three different years. For all populations and sampling periods, we compare patterns of diversity across the three sets of loci to infer the effects of contemporary bottlenecks. We found that translocation-induced bottlenecks resulted in greater losses of microsatellite than MHC diversity, whereas temporal (encompassing a potential disease-induced bottleneck) fluctuations in diversity were greater for MHC markers than microsatellite loci. Both translocation-and disease-induced contemporary bottlenecks affected TLR diversity to a greater extent than diversity of either microsatellites or MHC. We found significant temporal changes in the frequencies of two TLR1LA alleles on Motuara Island (coincident with the population crash), but no further subsequent change. These alleles differ by an amino acid variant (associated with the leucine-rich repeat region of TLR1LA). Since TLR1LA may initiate an innate immune response in the presence of haemosporidia parasites, it is possible that a selection event has contributed to the observed patterns at TLR1LA. Our results indicate that patterns of genetic diversity loss at microsatellite, MHC and TLR loci are not equally affected by contemporary population bottlenecks, and may be influenced by bottleneck type.

show abstract

Extensive MHC Class II B Gene Duplication in a Passerine, the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)

Cited by 73 publications

References 104 publications

Social and extra-pair mating in relation to major histocompatibility complex variation in common yellowthroats

Social and extra-pair mating in relation to major histocompatibility complex variation in common yellowthroats

MHC‐I provides both quantitative resistance and susceptibility to blood parasites in blue tits in the wild

Differential patterns of diversity at microsatellite, MHC, and TLR loci in bottlenecked South Island saddleback populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About