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Neutral Forces, and Balancing Selection Interplay to Shape MHC Spatial-Patterns in Striped Hamster in Inner Mongolia: Suggestive of Broad Scale Local Adaptation
Liu, P.; Li, G.; Zhao, N.; Song, X.; Wang, J.; Shi, X.; Wang, B.; Zhang, L.; Dong, L.; Li, Q.; Liu, Q.; Lu, L. Neutral Forces and Balancing Selection Interplay to Shape the Major Histocompatibility Complex Spatial Patterns in the Striped Hamster in Inner Mongolia: Suggestive of Broad-Scale Local Adaptation. Genes2023, 14, 1500.
Liu, P.; Li, G.; Zhao, N.; Song, X.; Wang, J.; Shi, X.; Wang, B.; Zhang, L.; Dong, L.; Li, Q.; Liu, Q.; Lu, L. Neutral Forces and Balancing Selection Interplay to Shape the Major Histocompatibility Complex Spatial Patterns in the Striped Hamster in Inner Mongolia: Suggestive of Broad-Scale Local Adaptation. Genes 2023, 14, 1500.
Liu, P.; Li, G.; Zhao, N.; Song, X.; Wang, J.; Shi, X.; Wang, B.; Zhang, L.; Dong, L.; Li, Q.; Liu, Q.; Lu, L. Neutral Forces and Balancing Selection Interplay to Shape the Major Histocompatibility Complex Spatial Patterns in the Striped Hamster in Inner Mongolia: Suggestive of Broad-Scale Local Adaptation. Genes2023, 14, 1500.
Liu, P.; Li, G.; Zhao, N.; Song, X.; Wang, J.; Shi, X.; Wang, B.; Zhang, L.; Dong, L.; Li, Q.; Liu, Q.; Lu, L. Neutral Forces and Balancing Selection Interplay to Shape the Major Histocompatibility Complex Spatial Patterns in the Striped Hamster in Inner Mongolia: Suggestive of Broad-Scale Local Adaptation. Genes 2023, 14, 1500.
Abstract
Background: The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays a key role in the adaptive immune response to pathogens due to its extraordinary polymorphism. However, the spatial patterns of MHC variation in the striped hamster remain unclear, particularly regarding the relative contribution of balancing selection in shaping MHC population and diversity compared to neutral forces. Methods: In this study, we investigated the immunogenic variation of the striped hamster in four wild populations in Inner Mongolia, which experience heterogeneous parasitic stress. Our goal was to identify local adaptation by comparing the genetic structure at MHC with that at seven microsatellite loci, taking into account neutral processes. Results: We observed significant variation in parasite pressure among sites, with parasite burden showing a correlation with temperature and precipitation. Molecular analysis revealed a similar co-structure between MHC and microsatellite loci. We observed lower genetic differentiation at MHC loci compared to microsatellite loci, and no correlation was found between the two. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest a complex interplay between neutral evolutionary forces and balancing selection in shaping the spatial patterns of MHC variation. Local adaptation was not detected at a small scale but may be applicable at a larger scale.
Keywords
local adaptation; major histocompatibility complex; balancing selection; parasite; striped hamster; population differentiation
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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