Genetic Associations of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) with Infectious Disease

Host genetics drives differences in cecal microbiota composition and immune traits of laying hens raised in the same environment

“…Other studies estimated genetic parameters (heritabilities and genetic correlations) for immune parameters such as antibody response to Pasteurella multocida and Mycoplasma gallisepticum , T-cell-mediated response and phagocytosis in laying hens ( Cheng et al, 1991 ), or heterophil:lymphocyte ratio in other avian species like turkey ( Bayyari et al, 1997 ). Furthermore, the implication of the MHC locus in immunization ( Zhang et al, 2022 ) and disease resistance is well documented ( Kaufman, 2016 ; Pinard-van der Laan et al, 2020 ). In addition to the MHC locus, quantitative genetics studies show that several genetic loci are involved in the variations of specific immune parameters, for example, ( Walugembe et al, 2020 ) found moderate to high estimates of heritability for all NDV response traits and identified potential candidate genes for postinfection growth rate and viral load.…”