Lack of Spatial Immunogenetic Structure among Wolverine (Gulo gulo) Populations Suggestive of Broad Scale Balancing Selection.

ABSTRACT: Elucidating the adaptive genetic potential of wildlife populations to environmental selective pressures is fundamental for species conservation. Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are highly polymorphic, and play a key role in the adaptive immune response against pathogens. MHC polymorphism has been linked to balancing selection or heterogeneous selection promoting local adaptation. However, spatial patterns of MHC polymorphism are also influenced by gene flow and drift. Wolverines are highly vagile, inhabiting varied ecoregions that include boreal forest, taiga, tundra, and high alpine ecosystems. Here, we investigated the immunogenetic variation of wolverines in Canada as a surrogate for identifying local adaptation by contrasting the genetic structure at MHC relative to

SUBMITTER: Rico Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4598017 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature