Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming?
Abstract Animals in the A rctic have low pathogen diversity but with rapid climate warming, this is expected to change. One insidious consequence of climate change is exposure of A rctic species to new pathogens derived from more southern species expanding their range northward. To assess potential...
Published in: | Animal Conservation |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acv.12045 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Facv.12045 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/acv.12045 |
id |
crwiley:10.1111/acv.12045 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1111/acv.12045 2024-09-15T18:00:29+00:00 Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? Weber, D. S. Van Coeverden De Groot, P. J. Peacock, E. Schrenzel, M. D. Perez, D. A. Thomas, S. Shelton, J. M. Else, C. K. Darby, L. L. Acosta, L. Harris, C. Youngblood, J. Boag, P. Desalle, R. 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acv.12045 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Facv.12045 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/acv.12045 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Animal Conservation volume 16, issue 6, page 671-683 ISSN 1367-9430 1469-1795 journal-article 2013 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12045 2024-08-06T04:21:10Z Abstract Animals in the A rctic have low pathogen diversity but with rapid climate warming, this is expected to change. One insidious consequence of climate change is exposure of A rctic species to new pathogens derived from more southern species expanding their range northward. To assess potential vulnerability of polar bears to disease exposure, we examined genetic variation in major histocompatibility complex ( MHC ) loci (part of immune system) in C anadian polar bears and found low genetic diversity, consistent with long‐standing exposure to low pathogen/parasite loads. All polar bears surveyed showed maximum linkage disequilibrium between DRB / DQB loci and 12% of individuals had a duplicated DQB gene haplotype. These results may reflect balancing selection at these loci, a response to an earlier immune‐challenge and/or be artifacts of polar bear‐brown bear divergence. Consistent with the latter, we found one DQA allele in polar bears that was also a brown bear DQA allele. The reported low MHC diversity and high linkage disequilibrium may have serious implications for polar bear resistance to new pathogens, which would be maladaptive to species in an environment undergoing rapid climate change, such as the A rctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper brown bear Climate change polar bear Wiley Online Library Animal Conservation 16 6 671 683 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Animals in the A rctic have low pathogen diversity but with rapid climate warming, this is expected to change. One insidious consequence of climate change is exposure of A rctic species to new pathogens derived from more southern species expanding their range northward. To assess potential vulnerability of polar bears to disease exposure, we examined genetic variation in major histocompatibility complex ( MHC ) loci (part of immune system) in C anadian polar bears and found low genetic diversity, consistent with long‐standing exposure to low pathogen/parasite loads. All polar bears surveyed showed maximum linkage disequilibrium between DRB / DQB loci and 12% of individuals had a duplicated DQB gene haplotype. These results may reflect balancing selection at these loci, a response to an earlier immune‐challenge and/or be artifacts of polar bear‐brown bear divergence. Consistent with the latter, we found one DQA allele in polar bears that was also a brown bear DQA allele. The reported low MHC diversity and high linkage disequilibrium may have serious implications for polar bear resistance to new pathogens, which would be maladaptive to species in an environment undergoing rapid climate change, such as the A rctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Weber, D. S. Van Coeverden De Groot, P. J. Peacock, E. Schrenzel, M. D. Perez, D. A. Thomas, S. Shelton, J. M. Else, C. K. Darby, L. L. Acosta, L. Harris, C. Youngblood, J. Boag, P. Desalle, R. |
spellingShingle |
Weber, D. S. Van Coeverden De Groot, P. J. Peacock, E. Schrenzel, M. D. Perez, D. A. Thomas, S. Shelton, J. M. Else, C. K. Darby, L. L. Acosta, L. Harris, C. Youngblood, J. Boag, P. Desalle, R. Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
author_facet |
Weber, D. S. Van Coeverden De Groot, P. J. Peacock, E. Schrenzel, M. D. Perez, D. A. Thomas, S. Shelton, J. M. Else, C. K. Darby, L. L. Acosta, L. Harris, C. Youngblood, J. Boag, P. Desalle, R. |
author_sort |
Weber, D. S. |
title |
Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
title_short |
Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
title_full |
Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
title_fullStr |
Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Low MHC variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of Arctic warming? |
title_sort |
low mhc variation in the polar bear: implications in the face of arctic warming? |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acv.12045 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Facv.12045 https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/acv.12045 |
genre |
brown bear Climate change polar bear |
genre_facet |
brown bear Climate change polar bear |
op_source |
Animal Conservation volume 16, issue 6, page 671-683 ISSN 1367-9430 1469-1795 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12045 |
container_title |
Animal Conservation |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
671 |
op_container_end_page |
683 |
_version_ |
1810437637337513984 |