Heritable variation in resistance to gastro-intestinal nematodes in an unmanaged mammal population

The impact of parasites on natural populations has received considerable attention from evolutionary biologists in recent years. Central to a number of theoretical developments during this period is the assumption of additive genetic variation in resistance to parasites. However, very few studies ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 1999-06, Vol.266 (1425), p.1283-1290
Main Authors: Smith, J.A, Wilson, K, Pilkington, J.G, Pemberton, J.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical estimating
animal parasitic nematodes
Animals
Biological Evolution
Channel coding
Female
Gastrointestinal Diseases - immunology
Gastrointestinal Diseases - parasitology
Gastrointestinal Diseases - veterinary
Generalized Linear Models
Genetic Variation
Genomic Imprinting
Genotype
Heritability
host-parasite relationships
Immunity, Innate - genetics
infection
Lambs
Male
Mammals
Nematode Infections - genetics
Nematode Infections - immunology
Nematode Infections - veterinary
Nematodes
Parasite hosts
Parasites
Population genetics
Sheep
Sheep Diseases - genetics
Sheep Diseases - immunology
Sheep Diseases - parasitology
Summer
Teladorsagia Circumcincta
Ungulate
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Summary:The impact of parasites on natural populations has received considerable attention from evolutionary biologists in recent years. Central to a number of theoretical developments during this period is the assumption of additive genetic variation in resistance to parasites. However, very few studies have estimated the heritability of parasite resistance under field conditions, and those that have are mainly restricted to birds and their ectoparasites. In this paper, to our knowledge, we show for the first time in a free-ranging mammal population, Soay sheep (Ovis aries) living on the islands of St Kilda, that there is significant heritable variation in resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes. This result is consistent with earlier studies on this population which have indicated locus-specific associations with parasite resistance. We discuss our results in the context of current studies examining heritable resistance to parasites in domestic sheep and the possible mechanisms of selective maintenance of genetic variation for resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes in the St Kilda Soay sheep population.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.1999.0776