Effects of blood parasite infection and innate immune genetic diversity on mating patterns in a passerine bird breeding in contrasted habitats.

ABSTRACT: Genetic diversity at immune genes and levels of parasitism are known to affect patterns of (dis)assortative mating in several species. Heterozygote advantage and/or good genes should shape mate choice originating from pathogen/parasite-driven selection at immune genes. However, the stability of these associations, and whether they vary with environmental conditions, are still rarely documented. In this study, we describe mating patterns in a wild population of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) over 4 years and assess the effects of haemosporidian parasite infection and immune genetic diversity at β-defensin genes on those patterns within two habitats of contrasting environmental quality, in southern Québec, Canada. We first show that mating patterns were only very weakly related t

SUBMITTER: Garant D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6254242 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature