Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals
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...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:524053 2023-05-15T13:41:43+02:00 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 Hoffman, Joseph Ivan 2019-07-22 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/1/Litzke_et_al-2019-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/1/Litzke_et_al-2019-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf Litzke, Vivienne; Ottensmann, Meinolf; Forcada, Jaume orcid:0000-0002-2115-0150 Heitzmann, Louise; Hoffman, Joseph Ivan. 2019 Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (14). 7985-7996. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 2023-02-04T19:48:39Z 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 Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Ecology and Evolution 9 14 7985 7996 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Hoffman, Joseph Ivan |
spellingShingle |
Litzke, Vivienne Ottensmann, Meinolf Forcada, Jaume Heitzmann, Louise Hoffman, Joseph Ivan 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 Hoffman, Joseph Ivan |
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://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/1/Litzke_et_al-2019-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf https://doi.org/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_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524053/1/Litzke_et_al-2019-Ecology_and_Evolution.pdf Litzke, Vivienne; Ottensmann, Meinolf; Forcada, Jaume orcid:0000-0002-2115-0150 Heitzmann, Louise; Hoffman, Joseph Ivan. 2019 Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals. Ecology and Evolution, 9 (14). 7985-7996. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317 <https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5317> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
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_ |
1766155283250282496 |