title: No Evidence that Infection Alters Global Recombination Rate in House Mice.
abstract: Recombination rate is a complex trait, with genetic and environmental factors shaping observed patterns of variation. Although recent studies have begun to unravel the genetic basis of recombination rate differences between organisms, less attention has focused on the environmental determinants of crossover rates. Here, we test the effect of one ubiquitous environmental pressure-bacterial infection-on global recombination frequency in mammals. We applied MLH1 mapping to assay global crossover rates in male mice infected with the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme Disease, and uninfected control animals. Despite ample statistical power to identify biologically relevant differences between infected and uninfected animals, we find no evidence for a global recombination rate response to bacterial infection. Moreover, broad-scale patterns of crossover distribution, including the number of achiasmate bivalents, are not affected by infection status. Although pathogen exposure can plastically increase recombination in some species, our findings suggest that recombination rates in house mice may be resilient to at least some forms of infection stress. This negative result motivates future experiments with alternative house mouse pathogens to evaluate the generality of this conclusion.
authors.affiliation: Initiative in Biological Complexity, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.|Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Beth L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Dumont
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Amy A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Dana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Truempy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nadia D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001899:Borrelia Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000502:physiology*; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism