Abstract
The cane toad has gained notoriety for its invasion across the Australian landscape, with significant impacts on the native Australian fauna. The invasion has accelerated over time, with invading cane toads adapted for highly dispersive traits. This, however, has come at the cost of the immune system, with lower investment in some immune functions. To investigate the cane toad’s immunogenetics, we characterized four major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIA and three MHC class IIB loci. Preliminary observations suggest very low allelic diversity at all loci. We also observed various splice isoforms. One isoform seen at one class IIA and two class IIB loci was missing exon 2, which is essential to peptide binding and presentation. The other isoform, observed at a class IIA locus, is likely to be a soluble MHC product. These results may suggest a significant role of alternative splicing of MHC loci in the Australian cane toad.
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Acknowledgment
This work was supported by the University of Sydney and the Australian Research Council.
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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.
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Nucleotide sequences are available on Genbank (accession numbers KP995691–KP995714).
Electronic supplementary material
Online Resource 1
Supplementary Methods. Further methodological details regarding the isolation of MHC sequences from cDNA library, RACE, and confirmation of full-length transcripts. (PDF 94 kb)
Online Resource 2
Supplementary Results. Further details regarding characterization results for MHC class IIA and IIB. (PDF 299 kb)
Online Resource 3
Figure. Rhma_DBA expression. Gel images demonstrating amplification of Rhma_DBA full-length transcript (upper band, 848 bp) and splice variant (lower band, 603 bp) from tissues of 8 individuals. Individuals indicated by their ID N1-N8. Tissue samples VS and DS describes ventral skin and dorsal skin, respectively. (PDF 422 kb)
Online Resource 4
Figure. Rhma_DBB expression. Gel images demonstrating amplification of Rhma_DBB full-length transcript (upper band, 844 bp) and splice variant (lower band, 568 bp) from tissues of 8 individuals. Individuals indicated by their ID N1-N8. Tissue samples VS and DS describes ventral skin and dorsal skin, respectively. (PDF 403 kb)
Online Resource 5
Figure. Rhma_DCB expression. Gel images demonstrating amplification of Rhma_DCB full-length transcript (upper band, 1012 bp) and splice variant (lower band, 735 bp) from tissues of 8 individuals. Individuals indicated by their ID N1-N8. Tissue samples VS and DS describes ventral skin and dorsal skin, respectively. (PDF 457 kb)
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Lillie, M., Cui, J., Shine, R. et al. Molecular characterization of MHC class II in the Australian invasive cane toad reveals multiple splice variants. Immunogenetics 68, 449–460 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-016-0919-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-016-0919-9