Are large wattles related to particular MHC genotypes in the male pheasant?

Abstract

In sexually dimorphic species, partners can assess heritable mate quality by analyzing costly sexual ornaments in terms of their dimension and possibly of their symmetry. In vertebrates an important aspect of genetic quality is the efficiency of the immune system, and in particular the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). If ornaments are honest advertisements of pathogen resistance (good genes), in line with the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis, a correlation between ornament expression and MHC profiles should exist. We tested this hypothesis in the common pheasant Phasianus colchicus by comparing male ornament characteristics (wattle and spur size, and wattle fluctuating asymmetry) with a portion of exon 2 of the class IIB MHC genes containing 19 putative antigen recognition sites. A total of 8 new alleles was observed in the MHCPhco exon IIB. We found significant differences in the occurrence of MHC genotypes between males carrying large or small wattles. Homozygous genotypes predicted large wattle males more correctly than small wattle males. The association between the dimension of the spur and the occurrence of MHC genotypes was marginally significant, however, we did not find any significant association between MHC genotypes and asymmetry. Our results suggest that female pheasants may use the ornament size as a cue to evaluate male quality and thus choose males carrying particular MHC profiles.

MHC Class IIB Exon 2 Polymorphism in the Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix) Is Shaped by Selection, Recombination and Gene Conversion

“…However, the method has been successfully applied in a wide range of species where MHC class I and class II display moderate levels of polymorphism, such as mammals (e.g. [56], [77], [78]) and galliform birds [79]. While studies using next-generation sequencing of MHC in passerines have reported highly duplicated loci with almost 200 alleles of both MHCIIB [80] and MHCI [76] from single populations, such extensive variation is not expected in galliforms.…”

Occurrence of extra‐pair paternity is connected to social male's MHC‐variability in the scarlet rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus

“…The molecular methods we used in this study are routinely used for analysing MHC in non‐model species (e.g. Binz et al 2001, Bryja et al 2005, Alcaide et al 2010, Baratti et al 2010). When using the method of CE‐SSCP, although the outcome is reliable genotyping, the particular nucleotide sequences remain unknown.…”

Condition-dependent traits as signals of the functionality of vital cellular processes

“…An interesting and potentially important distinction between the uses of the terms ÔconditionÕ and ÔqualityÕ is that the Ôgenetic qualityÕ of an individual is often distinguished from Ôphenotypic qualityÕ (Delhey et al 2006;Weiss 2006). The latter is sometimes presented as being synonymous with condition (Weiss 2006), but the former, often referred to as Ôgood genesÕ, is usually viewed as distinct from condition (Baratti et al 2010;Ryder et al 2010). Thus, use of the term ÔconditionÕ is typically directed at various aspects of the phenotype of an animal (Hegyi et al 2010), but ÔqualityÕ encompasses both phenotype and genotype.…”

“…2006; Weiss 2006). The latter is sometimes presented as being synonymous with condition (Weiss 2006), but the former, often referred to as ‘good genes’, is usually viewed as distinct from condition (Baratti et al. 2010; Ryder et al.…”