Assessment of MHC diversity in Central and Southeastern European grey wolf (Canis lupus) population

• Main Author: Pavlinec, Željko
• Other Authors: Galov, Ana
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Sveučilište u Zagrebu. Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet. Biološki odsjek. 2021
• Subjects: dog leukocyte antigen; Carpathian population; Dinaric-Balkan population; balancing selection; pseći leukocitni antigen; Karpatska populacija; Dinarsko-Balkanska populacija; ravnotežna selekcija; PRIRODNE ZNANOSTI. Biologija; NATURAL SCIENCES. Biology; Biološke znanosti. Fizička antropologija. Bioraznolikost; Biological sciences. Physical anthropology. Biodiversity; info:eu-repo/classification/udc/57(043.3); Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://dr.nsk.hr/islandora/object/pmf:9829; https://urn.nsk.hr/urn:nbn:hr:217:583354; https://repozitorij.unizg.hr/islandora/object/pmf:9829; https://repozitorij.unizg.hr/islandora/object/pmf:9829/datastream/PDF

Major histocompatibility complex diversity affects individual fitness, population viability and prospects for its long-term survival and can thereby serve as a valuable genetic indicator of population fitness and its ability to adapt to environmental changes. Ten populations of grey wolf (Canis lupus) have been identified in Europe today, the two largest being Carpathian and Dinaric-Balkan, with their sizes estimated to 4,000 and 5,000 individuals, respectively. In this thesis I assessed MHC class II allelic diversity in Central and Southeastern European grey wolves, namely from Carpathian and Dinaric Mountains. I used sequencing-cloning procedure to analyse exon 2 of DLA-DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1 genes in 99 samples from Carpathian population and 79 samples from Dinaric-Balkan population. I found four DQA, seven DQB and seven DRB alleles, with ten haplotypes in the Carpathian population, and eight DQA, 11 DQB and 12 DRB alleles, with 18 haplotypes in the Dinaric-Balkan population. Two alleles in Dinaric-Balkan population are unknown from previous research. There are strong indications of positive selection acting upon all examined loci in both populations, and a strong linkage disequilibrium between all pairs of loci. Dinaric-Balkan population seems to be the most diverse European population with regards to MHC genes. Raznolikost glavnog sustava tkivne podudarnosti smatra se dobrim genetičkim pokazateljem fitnesa populacije i sposobnosti prilagodbe na promjene u okolišu, s obzirom da utječe na fitnes jedinke, vijabilnost populacije i njene izglede za dugoročno preživljavanje. Danas u Europi postoji deset populacija vuka (Canis lupus), od kojih su dvije najveće populacije karpatska i dinarsko-balkanska koje broje oko 4000, odnosno 5000 jedinki. U disertaciji je istražena raznolikost lokusa MHC klase II u populacijama vuka srednje i jugoistočne Europe, to jest populacija Karpatskog i Dinarskog gorja. Eksoni 2 lokusa DLA-DQA1, DQB1 i DRB1 analizirani su metodama sekvenciranja i molekularnog kloniranja u 99 uzoraka ...