Genetic dissection of MHC-associated susceptibility to Lepeophtheirus salmonis in Atlantic salmon.
BACKGROUND
Genetic variation has been shown to play a significant role in determining susceptibility to the salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis. However, the mechanisms involved in differential response to infection remain poorly understood. Recent findings in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) have provided evidence for a potential link between marker variation at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and differences in lice abundance among infected siblings, suggesting that MHC genes can modulate susceptibility to the parasite. In this study, we used quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to test the effect of genomic regions linked to MHC class I and II on linkage groups (LG) 15 and 6, respectively.


RESULTS
Significant QTL effects were detected on both LG 6 and LG 15 in sire-based analysis but the QTL regions remained unresolved due to a lack of recombination between markers. In dam-based analysis, a significant QTL was identified on LG 6, which accounted for 12.9% of within-family variance in lice abundance. However, the QTL was located at the opposite end of DAA, with no significant overlap with the MHC class II region. Interestingly, QTL modelling also revealed evidence of sex-linked differences in lice abundance, indicating that males and females may have different susceptibility to infection.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, QTL analysis provided relatively weak support for a proximal effect of classical MHC regions on lice abundance, which can partly be explained by linkage to other genes controlling susceptibility to L. salmonis on the same chromosome.
Gharbi
Karim
K
Institute of Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK. k.gharbi@vet.gla.ac.uk
Glover
Kevin A
KA
Stone
Louise C
LC
MacDonald
Elizabeth S
ES
Matthews
Louise
L
Grimholt
Unni
U
Stear
Michael J
MJ
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D033342:Copepoda / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D020317:Salmo salar / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*