Selection on innate immunity and body condition in Florida scrub-jays throughout an epidemic.
Opportunities to investigate selection in free-living species during a naturally occurring epidemic are rare; however, we assessed innate immunocompetence in Florida scrub-jays before the population suffered the greatest over-winter mortality in 20 years of study. Propitiously, three months prior to the epidemic, we had sampled a number of male breeders to evaluate a suite of physiological measures that are commonly used to estimate the overall health-state of an individual. There was a significant, positive selection gradient for both Escherichia coli bacterial killing capability and body condition, suggesting that directional selection had occurred upon each of these traits during the disease epidemic.
Wilcoxen
Travis E
TE
Department of Biology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA. twilcoxn@memphis.edu
Boughton
Raoul K
RK
Schoech
Stephan J
SJ
D000818:Animals; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001824:Body Constitution / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000662:veterinary*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000276:immunology; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D007121:Immunocompetence / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D046109:Passeriformes; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012641:Selection, Genetic
D003345:Corticosterone