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