Polyandry and Inheritance of Adaptive Immune Genes in Sandbar Sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus)

Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) are a subclass of Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fishes, which were the first vertebrates to evolve an adaptive immune system (AIS). A crucial part of the AIS is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a suite of genes that code for molecules that recogniz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Florida scientist 2022-01, Vol.85 (2), p.58-59
Main Authors: Agarwal, Manav, Cave, Eloise, Hall, Jasmine, Grubbs, R Dean, Daly-Engel, Toby S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptive systems
Alleles
Amplification
Bayesian analysis
Carcharhinus plumbeus
Carnivorous animals
Chondrichthyes
Defence mechanisms
DNA
Evolution
Females
Genes
Heredity
Immune response
Immune system
Immunity
Major histocompatibility complex
Marine fishes
Mating
Nucleotide sequence
Pathogens
PCR
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Polyandry
Polymerase chain reaction
Probability theory
Prototypes
Reproductive behaviour
Sand bars
Sharks
Vertebrates
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Summary:Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) are a subclass of Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fishes, which were the first vertebrates to evolve an adaptive immune system (AIS). A crucial part of the AIS is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a suite of genes that code for molecules that recognize pathogens and trigger an immune response to rid the body of infection. It is speculated that the AIS first evolved in response to sharks' reproductive strategies, which include live birth and polyandry (females mating with multiple males). Previously, we estimated allele inheritance in female Sandbar Sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) in Hawaii to document polyandry and found that only ~40% of females use this behavior compared with 80% in other populations. But because neutral genes do not respond to selection pressure and have low diversity, we hypothesize that coding genes may show a higher frequency of polyandry. This study aims to amplify MHC genes in DNA from Sandbar Sharks litters (mothers and pups) to compare patterns of inheritance and diversity with neutral loci. We aim to amplify MHC I, MHC IIa, and MHC IIß sequences using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), then align the sequences for each brood and use Bayesian phylogenetic tree-building to identify different alleles within broods. Findings from this study will give us unique insight into the evolution of the "prototype" MHC complex and provide a novel tool for investigating genetic mating systems in sharks.
ISSN:0098-4590