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Reduced Mhc And Neutral Variation In The Galápagos Hawk, An Island Endemic, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Joshua M. Hull, Holly B. Ernest, José H. Sarasola, Patricia G. Parker
Reduced Mhc And Neutral Variation In The Galápagos Hawk, An Island Endemic, Jennifer L. Bollmer, Joshua M. Hull, Holly B. Ernest, José H. Sarasola, Patricia G. Parker
Patricia Parker
Background
Genes at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are known for high levels of polymorphism maintained by balancing selection. In small or bottlenecked populations, however, genetic drift may be strong enough to overwhelm the effect of balancing selection, resulting in reduced MHC variability. In this study we investigated MHC evolution in two recently diverged bird species: the endemic Galápagos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis), which occurs in small, isolated island populations, and its widespread mainland relative, the Swainson's hawk (B. swainsoni).
Results
We amplified at least two MHC class II B gene copies in each species. We recovered only three different sequences …