期刊
BMC GENOMICS
卷 19, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
BIOMED CENTRAL LTD
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-4452-0
关键词
Genome-wide association study; Target enrichment; Sequence capture; Next-generation sequencing; Immunogenetics; Gopherus polyphemus; Immunomes
资金
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, McIntire Stennis [LAB04066, LAB94169]
- Lucius Gilbert Foundation
- COBRE center grant from the National Institutes of Health [NIH 8 P20 GM103528]
- NORC center grant from the National Institutes of Health [NIH 2P30DK072476]
- National Science Foundation, Ecology of Infectious Diseases program [DEB-0224953]
- National Institutes of Health [5K08AI57722]
Background: Infectious disease is the single greatest threat to taxa such as amphibians (chytrid fungus), bats (white nose syndrome), Tasmanian devils (devil facial tumor disease), and black-footed ferrets (canine distemper virus, plague). Although understanding the genetic basis to disease susceptibility is important for the long-term persistence of these groups, most research has been limited to major-histocompatibility and Toll-like receptor genes. To better understand the genetic basis of infectious disease susceptibility in a species of conservation concern, we sequenced all known/predicted immune response genes (i.e., the immunomes) in 16 Florida gopher tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus. All tortoises produced antibodies against Mycoplasma agassizii (an etiologic agent of infectious upper respiratory tract disease; URTD) and, at the time of sampling, either had (n = 10) or lacked (n = 6) clinical signs. Results: We found several variants associated with URTD clinical status in complement and lectin genes, which may play a role in Mycoplasma immunity. Thirty-five genes deviated from neutrality according to Tajima's D. These genes were enriched in functions relating to macromolecule and protein modifications, which are vital to immune system functioning. Conclusions: These results are suggestive of genetic differences that might contribute to disease severity, a finding that is consistent with other mycoplasmal diseases. This has implications for management because tortoises across their range may possess genetic variation associated with a more severe response to URTD. More generally: 1) this approach demonstrates that a broader consideration of immune genes is better able to identify important variants, and; 2) this data pipeline can be adopted to identify alleles associated with disease susceptibility or resistance in other taxa, and therefore provide information on a population's risk of succumbing to disease, inform translocations to increase genetic variation for disease resistance, and help to identify potential treatments.
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