title: Immunogenetic heterogeneity in a widespread ungulate: the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).
abstract: Understanding how immune genetic variation is shaped by selective and neutral processes in wild populations is of prime importance in both evolutionary biology and epidemiology. The European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) has considerably expanded its distribution range these last decades, notably by colonizing agricultural landscapes. This range shift is likely to have led to bottlenecks and increased roe deer exposure to a new range of pathogens that until recently predominantly infected humans and domestic fauna. We therefore investigated the historical and contemporary forces that have shaped variability in a panel of genes involved in innate and acquired immunity in roe deer, including Mhc-Drb and genes encoding cytokines or toll-like receptors (TLRs). Together, our results suggest that genetic drift is the main contemporary evolutionary force shaping immunogenetic variation within populations. However, in contrast to the classical view, we found that some innate immune genes involved in micropathogen recognition (e.g. Tlrs) continue to evolve dynamically in roe deer in response to pathogen-mediated positive selection. Most studied Tlrs (Tlr2, Tlr4 and Tlr5) had similarly high levels of amino acid diversity in the three studied populations including one recently established in southwestern France that showed a clear signature of genetic bottleneck. Tlr2 implicated in the recognition of Gram-positive bacteria in domestic ungulates, showed strong evidence of balancing selection. The high immunogenetic variation revealed here implies that roe deer are able to cope with a wide spectrum of pathogens and to respond rapidly to emerging infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage (CEFS), INRA UR35, B.P. 52627, 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Erwan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quéméré
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR CBGP, (INRA/IRD/Cirad/Montpellier SupAgro), Campus International de Baillarguet CS 30016, 34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galan
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR CBGP, (INRA/IRD/Cirad/Montpellier SupAgro), Campus International de Baillarguet CS 30016, 34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Cosson
authors.affiliation: ONCFS, CNERA Cervidés-Sanglier, 1 Place Exelmans, F-55000, Bar-le-Duc, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage (CEFS), INRA UR35, B.P. 52627, 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aulagnier
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, UMR CNRS, 5558, Villeurbanne, France.|Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, Marcy l'Etoile, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilot-Fromont
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage (CEFS), INRA UR35, B.P. 52627, 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merlet
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Recherches en Sciences Végétales, Université de Toulouse UPS, CNRS UMR5546, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonhomme
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Comportement et Ecologie de la Faune Sauvage (CEFS), INRA UR35, B.P. 52627, 31326, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
authors.forename: A J Mark
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hewison
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR CBGP, (INRA/IRD/Cirad/Montpellier SupAgro), Campus International de Baillarguet CS 30016, 34988, Montferrier-sur-Lez Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charbonnel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D003670:Deer / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005602:France; D040961:Genetic Drift; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
keywords: genetic drift; immunity; major histocompatibility complex; selection; toll-like receptors; wild ungulates