Major histocompatibility complex class II compatibility, but not class I, predicts mate choice in a bird with highly developed olfaction.
(2012) In Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1746). p.4457-4463- Abstract
- Mate choice for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) compatibility has been found in several taxa, although rarely in birds. MHC is a crucial component in adaptive immunity and by choosing an MHC-dissimilar partner, heterozygosity and potentially broad pathogen resistance is maximized in the offspring. The MHC genotype influences odour cues and preferences in mammals and fish and hence olfactory-based mate choice can occur. We tested whether blue petrels, Halobaena caerulea, choose partners based on MHC compatibility. This bird is long-lived, monogamous and can discriminate between individual odours using olfaction, which makes it exceptionally well suited for this analysis. We screened MHC class I and II B alleles in blue petrels using... (More)
- Mate choice for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) compatibility has been found in several taxa, although rarely in birds. MHC is a crucial component in adaptive immunity and by choosing an MHC-dissimilar partner, heterozygosity and potentially broad pathogen resistance is maximized in the offspring. The MHC genotype influences odour cues and preferences in mammals and fish and hence olfactory-based mate choice can occur. We tested whether blue petrels, Halobaena caerulea, choose partners based on MHC compatibility. This bird is long-lived, monogamous and can discriminate between individual odours using olfaction, which makes it exceptionally well suited for this analysis. We screened MHC class I and II B alleles in blue petrels using 454-pyrosequencing and quantified the phylogenetic, functional and allele-sharing similarity between individuals. Partners were functionally more dissimilar at the MHC class II B loci than expected from random mating (p = 0.033), whereas there was no such difference at the MHC class I loci. Phylogenetic and non-sequence-based MHC allele-sharing measures detected no MHC dissimilarity between partners for either MHC class I or II B. Our study provides evidence of mate choice for MHC compatibility in a bird with a high dependency on odour cues, suggesting that MHC odour-mediated mate choice occurs in birds. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3124267
- author
- Strandh, Maria LU ; Westerdahl, Helena LU ; Pontarp, Mikael LU ; Canbäck, Björn LU ; Dubois, Marie-Pierre ; Miquel, Christian ; Taberlet, Pierre and Bonadonna, Francesco
- organization
- publishing date
- 2012
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- major histocompatibility complex, MHC class I, MHC class II B, 454-pyrosequencing, genetic compatibility
- in
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 279
- issue
- 1746
- pages
- 4457 - 4463
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000309541200018
- pmid:22951737
- scopus:84866842100
- pmid:22951737
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.2012.1562
- project
- Avian MHC genes
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2c32307d-3870-40d7-a731-50862ffee80c (old id 3124267)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:22:00
- date last changed
- 2022-03-29 07:03:10
@article{2c32307d-3870-40d7-a731-50862ffee80c,
abstract = {{Mate choice for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) compatibility has been found in several taxa, although rarely in birds. MHC is a crucial component in adaptive immunity and by choosing an MHC-dissimilar partner, heterozygosity and potentially broad pathogen resistance is maximized in the offspring. The MHC genotype influences odour cues and preferences in mammals and fish and hence olfactory-based mate choice can occur. We tested whether blue petrels, Halobaena caerulea, choose partners based on MHC compatibility. This bird is long-lived, monogamous and can discriminate between individual odours using olfaction, which makes it exceptionally well suited for this analysis. We screened MHC class I and II B alleles in blue petrels using 454-pyrosequencing and quantified the phylogenetic, functional and allele-sharing similarity between individuals. Partners were functionally more dissimilar at the MHC class II B loci than expected from random mating (p = 0.033), whereas there was no such difference at the MHC class I loci. Phylogenetic and non-sequence-based MHC allele-sharing measures detected no MHC dissimilarity between partners for either MHC class I or II B. Our study provides evidence of mate choice for MHC compatibility in a bird with a high dependency on odour cues, suggesting that MHC odour-mediated mate choice occurs in birds.}},
author = {{Strandh, Maria and Westerdahl, Helena and Pontarp, Mikael and Canbäck, Björn and Dubois, Marie-Pierre and Miquel, Christian and Taberlet, Pierre and Bonadonna, Francesco}},
issn = {{1471-2954}},
keywords = {{major histocompatibility complex; MHC class I; MHC class II B; 454-pyrosequencing; genetic compatibility}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1746}},
pages = {{4457--4463}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Major histocompatibility complex class II compatibility, but not class I, predicts mate choice in a bird with highly developed olfaction.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1562}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.2012.1562}},
volume = {{279}},
year = {{2012}},
}