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Major histocompatibility complex class II compatibility, but not class I, predicts mate choice in a bird with highly developed olfaction.

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Author

Summary, in English

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.

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Pages

4457-4463

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

279

Issue

1746

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Royal Society Publishing

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Keywords

  • major histocompatibility complex
  • MHC class I
  • MHC class II B
  • 454-pyrosequencing
  • genetic compatibility

Status

Published

Project

  • Avian MHC genes

Research group

  • Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
  • Theoretical Population Ecology and Evolution Group

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1471-2954