title: Patterns of MHC-DRB1 polymorphism in a post-glacial island canid, the Newfoundland red fox (Vulpes vulpes deletrix), suggest balancing selection at species and population timescales.
abstract: As the only native insular Newfoundland canid between the extinction of the wolf in the 1930s and the recent arrival of coyotes, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes deletrix Bangs 1898) poses interesting questions about genetic distinctiveness and the post-glacial colonization history of the island's depauperate mammalian fauna. Here, we characterized genetic variability at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II DR β1 domain (DRB1) locus in 28 red foxes from six sampling localities island-wide and compared it with mitochondrial control region (CR) diversity and DRB1 diversity in other canids. Our goals were to describe novel DRB1 alleles in a new canid population and to make inferences about the role of selection in maintaining their diversity. As in numerous studies of vertebrates, we found an order-of-magnitude higher nucleotide diversity at the DRB1 locus compared with the CR and significantly positive nonsynonymous-to-synonymous substitution ratios, indicative of selection in the distant past. Although the evidence is weaker, the Ewens-Watterson test of neutrality and the geographical distribution of variation compared with the CR suggest a role for selection over the evolutionary timescale of populations. We report the first genetic data from the DRB1 locus in the red fox and establish baseline information regarding immunogenetic variation in this island canid population which should inform continued investigations of population demography, adaptive genetic diversity, and wildlife disease in red foxes and related species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X9, Canada. dawnm@mun.ca.
authors.forename: H Dawn
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X9, Canada.
authors.forename: Barbara L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Langille
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 3X9, Canada.
authors.forename: Crystal A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hann
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Division, Forestry and Agrifoods Agency, Box 7400, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1E 3Y5, Canada.
authors.forename: Hugh G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Whitney
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005589:Foxes; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D005828:Genetics, Population; D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D062312:Islands; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009523:Newfoundland and Labrador; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012641:Selection, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D059811:HLA-DRB1 Chains
keywords: Balancing selection; DRB1; Host immunogenetics; Major histocompatibility complex; Red fox; Tests of neutrality