Molecular Biology Commons^™

Selection And Demography Drive Range-Wide Patterns Of Mhc Variation In Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus), Rachel M. Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Variation at functional genes involved in immune response is of increasing concern as wildlife diseases continue to emerge and threaten populations. The amount of standing genetic variation in a population is directly associated with its potential for rapid adaptation to novel environments. For genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which are crucial in activating the immune response and which have extremely high levels of polymorphism, the genetic variation has been shown to be influenced by both parasite-mediated selection and historical population demography. To better understand the relative roles of parasite-mediated selection and demography on MHC evolution in large populations, …