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Complex Mhc-based mate choice in a wild passerine

Bonneaud, C ; Chastel, O ; Federici, P ; Westerdahl, Helena LU and Sorci, G (2006) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 273(1590). p.1111-1116
Abstract
The extreme polymorphism of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is famous for protecting hosts against constantly evolving pathogens. Mate choice is often evoked as a means of maintaining Mhc variability through avoidance of partners with similar Mhc alleles or preference for heterozygotes. Evidence for these two hypotheses mostly comes from studies on humans and laboratory mice. Here, we tested these hypotheses in a wild outbred population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Females were not more or less closely related to the males they paired with when considering neutral genetic variation. However, males failed to form breeding pairs when they had too few Mhc alleles and when they were too dissimilar from females... (More)
The extreme polymorphism of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is famous for protecting hosts against constantly evolving pathogens. Mate choice is often evoked as a means of maintaining Mhc variability through avoidance of partners with similar Mhc alleles or preference for heterozygotes. Evidence for these two hypotheses mostly comes from studies on humans and laboratory mice. Here, we tested these hypotheses in a wild outbred population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Females were not more or less closely related to the males they paired with when considering neutral genetic variation. However, males failed to form breeding pairs when they had too few Mhc alleles and when they were too dissimilar from females at Mhc loci (i.e. had no common alleles). Furthermore, pairs did not form at random as Mhc diversity positively correlated in mating pairs. These results suggest that mate choice evolves in response to (i) benefits in terms of parasite resistance acquired from allelic diversity, and (ii) costs associated with the disruption of co-adapted genes. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
volume
273
issue
1590
pages
1111 - 1116
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000236852700012
  • pmid:16600889
  • pmid:16600889
  • scopus:33746736394
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2005.3325
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0d20456a-7641-4cb5-9a64-aba7f417d7af (old id 159496)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:52:51
date last changed
2024-05-06 20:41:16
@article{0d20456a-7641-4cb5-9a64-aba7f417d7af,
  abstract     = {{The extreme polymorphism of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) is famous for protecting hosts against constantly evolving pathogens. Mate choice is often evoked as a means of maintaining Mhc variability through avoidance of partners with similar Mhc alleles or preference for heterozygotes. Evidence for these two hypotheses mostly comes from studies on humans and laboratory mice. Here, we tested these hypotheses in a wild outbred population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Females were not more or less closely related to the males they paired with when considering neutral genetic variation. However, males failed to form breeding pairs when they had too few Mhc alleles and when they were too dissimilar from females at Mhc loci (i.e. had no common alleles). Furthermore, pairs did not form at random as Mhc diversity positively correlated in mating pairs. These results suggest that mate choice evolves in response to (i) benefits in terms of parasite resistance acquired from allelic diversity, and (ii) costs associated with the disruption of co-adapted genes.}},
  author       = {{Bonneaud, C and Chastel, O and Federici, P and Westerdahl, Helena and Sorci, G}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1590}},
  pages        = {{1111--1116}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Complex Mhc-based mate choice in a wild passerine}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3325}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rspb.2005.3325}},
  volume       = {{273}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}