Premium
Major histocompatibility complex class II genetic variation in forest musk deer ( M oschus berezovskii ) in C hina
Author(s) -
Yao Gang,
Zhu Ying,
Wan QiuHong,
Fang ShengGuo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
animal genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2052
pISSN - 0268-9146
DOI - 10.1111/age.12336
Subject(s) - biology , balancing selection , locus (genetics) , genetics , population , allele , major histocompatibility complex , population bottleneck , genetic variation , loss of heterozygosity , genetic diversity , gene , microsatellite , demography , sociology
Summary The major histocompatibility complex ( MHC ) plays an important role in the immune system of vertebrates. We used the second exon of four MHC class II genes ( DRA , DQA 1 , DQA 2 and DRB 3 ) to assess the overall MHC variation in forest musk deer ( M oschus berezovskii ). We also compared the MHC variation in captive and wild populations. We observed 22 alleles at four loci (four at DRA , four at DQA 1 , four at DQA 2 and 10 at DRB 3 ), 15 of which were newly identified alleles. Results suggest that forest musk deer maintain relatively high MHC variation, which may result from balancing selection. Moreover, considerable diversity was observed at the DRA locus. We found a high frequency of M obe‐ DRA *02, M obe‐ DQA 1 *01 and M obe‐ DQA 2 *05 alleles, which may be important for pathogen resistance. A E wens– W atterson test showed that the DRB 3 locus in the wild population had experienced recent balancing selection. We detected a small divergence at the DRA locus, suggesting the effect of weak positive selection on the DRA gene. Alternatively, this locus may be young and not yet adapted a wide spectrum of alleles for pathogen resistance. The significant heterozygosity deficit observed at the DQA 1 and DRB 3 loci in the captive population and at all four loci in the wild population may be the result of a population bottleneck. Additionally, MHC genetic diversity was higher in the wild population than in the captive, suggesting that the wild population may have the ability to respond to a wider range of pathogens.