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First assessment of MHC diversity in wild Scottish red deer populations

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Abstract

Control and mitigation of disease in wild ungulate populations are one of the major challenges in wildlife management. Despite the importance of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes for immune response, assessment of diversity on these genes is still rare for European deer populations. Here, we conducted the first assessment of variation at the second exon of the MHC DRB in wild populations of Scottish highland red deer, the largest continuous population of red deer in Europe. Allelic diversity at these loci was high, with 25 alleles identified. Selection analyses indicated c. 22% of amino acids encoded under episodic positive selection. Patterns of MHC allelic distribution were not congruent with neutral population genetic structure (estimated with 16 nuclear microsatellite markers) in the study area, the latter showing a marked differentiation between populations located at either side of the Great Glen. This study represents a first step towards building an immunogenetic map of red deer populations across Scotland to aid future management strategies for this ecologically and economically important species.

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Acknowledgements

Deer stalkers and deer managers of the estates of Tarlogie, Strathconon, Inshriach and Abernethy are greatly thanked for the collection of samples. A. Jones, K. Russell, S. Joinson and J. Hennessy are thanked for assistance with microsatellite genotyping and S. Requena (CSIC) for map reproduction. Cambridge Conservation Forum and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative are thanked for allowing Sílvia Pérez-Espona to use their office space at the David Attenborough Building while preparing this manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the British Deer Society and samples were obtained from a project funded through Rural Affairs Food and Environment Strategic Research-Scottish Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, EH25 9RG, UK

    Sílvia Pérez-Espona

  2. Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK

    Sílvia Pérez-Espona, Anna Savirina & Jekaterina Bobovikova

  3. British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    William Paul Goodall-Copestake

  4. Estación Biológica de Doñana–CSIC, Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, E41092, Seville, Spain

    Carles Molina-Rubio

  5. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos of CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario s/n, 02071, Albacete, Spain

    F. Javier Pérez-Barbería

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  1. Sílvia Pérez-Espona
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Correspondence to Sílvia Pérez-Espona.

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Figure S1

Amino acid composition of the 25 MHC DRB exon 2 alleles found in Scottish highland red deer. (DOCX 115 kb)

Figure S2

Results from structure for the analyses of population structure using MHC DRB exon 2 loci. (DOCX 74 kb)

Figure S3

Results from structure for the analyses of population structure using 16 microsatellite loci. (DOCX 50 kb)

Table S1

Contrasts of the estimates of the regression analyses of each of the first three linear discriminants against populations. Significant p values indicate differences between pairs of populations for the corresponding linear discriminant. The results are consistent with Fig. 4. (DOCX 15 kb)

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Pérez-Espona, S., Goodall-Copestake, W.P., Savirina, A. et al. First assessment of MHC diversity in wild Scottish red deer populations. Eur J Wildl Res 65, 22 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-019-1254-x

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