Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals
Abstract Numerous studies have reported correlations between the heterozygosity of genetic markers and fitness. These heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) play a central role in evolutionary and conservation biology, yet their mechanistic basis remains open to debate. For example, fitness asso...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.5317 2024-06-23T07:47:51+00:00 Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Ivan Hoffman, Joseph British Antarctic Survey Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fece3.5317 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.5317 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.5317 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 9, issue 14, page 7985-7996 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 2024-06-04T06:41:45Z Abstract Numerous studies have reported correlations between the heterozygosity of genetic markers and fitness. These heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) play a central role in evolutionary and conservation biology, yet their mechanistic basis remains open to debate. For example, fitness associations have been widely reported at both neutral and functional loci, yet few studies have directly compared the two, making it difficult to gauge the relative contributions of genome‐wide inbreeding and specific functional genes to fitness. Here, we compared the effects of neutral and immune gene heterozygosity on death from bacterial infection in Antarctic fur seal ( Arctocephalus gazella ) pups. We specifically developed a panel of 13 microsatellites from expressed immune genes and genotyped these together with 48 neutral loci in 234 individuals, comprising 39 pups that were classified at necropsy as having most likely died of bacterial infection together with a five times larger matched sample of healthy surviving pups. Identity disequilibrium quantified from the neutral markers was positive and significant, indicative of variance in inbreeding within the study population. However, multilocus heterozygosity did not differ significantly between healthy and infected pups at either class of marker, and little evidence was found for fitness associations at individual loci. These results support a previous study of Antarctic fur seals that found no effects of heterozygosity at nine neutral microsatellites on neonatal survival and thereby help to refine our understanding of how HFCs vary across the life cycle. Given that nonsignificant HFCs are underreported in the literature, we also hope that our study will contribute toward a more balanced understanding of the wider importance of this phenomenon. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seal Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella Wiley Online Library Antarctic Ecology and Evolution 9 14 7985 7996 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Numerous studies have reported correlations between the heterozygosity of genetic markers and fitness. These heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) play a central role in evolutionary and conservation biology, yet their mechanistic basis remains open to debate. For example, fitness associations have been widely reported at both neutral and functional loci, yet few studies have directly compared the two, making it difficult to gauge the relative contributions of genome‐wide inbreeding and specific functional genes to fitness. Here, we compared the effects of neutral and immune gene heterozygosity on death from bacterial infection in Antarctic fur seal ( Arctocephalus gazella ) pups. We specifically developed a panel of 13 microsatellites from expressed immune genes and genotyped these together with 48 neutral loci in 234 individuals, comprising 39 pups that were classified at necropsy as having most likely died of bacterial infection together with a five times larger matched sample of healthy surviving pups. Identity disequilibrium quantified from the neutral markers was positive and significant, indicative of variance in inbreeding within the study population. However, multilocus heterozygosity did not differ significantly between healthy and infected pups at either class of marker, and little evidence was found for fitness associations at individual loci. These results support a previous study of Antarctic fur seals that found no effects of heterozygosity at nine neutral microsatellites on neonatal survival and thereby help to refine our understanding of how HFCs vary across the life cycle. Given that nonsignificant HFCs are underreported in the literature, we also hope that our study will contribute toward a more balanced understanding of the wider importance of this phenomenon. |
author2 |
British Antarctic Survey Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Ivan Hoffman, Joseph |
spellingShingle |
Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Ivan Hoffman, Joseph Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
author_facet |
Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Ivan Hoffman, Joseph |
author_sort |
Litzke, Vivienne |
title |
Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
title_short |
Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
title_full |
Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
title_fullStr |
Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals |
title_sort |
heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in antarctic fur seals |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fece3.5317 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.5317 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ece3.5317 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seal Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Fur Seal Antarctic Fur Seals Arctocephalus gazella |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 9, issue 14, page 7985-7996 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
14 |
container_start_page |
7985 |
op_container_end_page |
7996 |
_version_ |
1802638069317238784 |