Author response: Effects of an IgE receptor polymorphism acting on immunity, susceptibility to infection, and reproduction in a wild rodent
Year: 2022
Type: peer-review
Abstract: The genotype of an individual is an important predictor of their immune function, and subsequently, their ability to control or avoid infection and ultimately contribute offspring to the next generation.However, the same genotype, subjected to different intrinsic and/or extrinsic environments, can also result in different phenotypic outcomes, which can be missed in controlled laboratory studies.Natural wildlife populations, which capture both genotypic and environmental variability, provide an opportunity to more fully understand the phenotypic expression of genetic variation.We identified a synonymous polymorphism in the high-affinity Immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor (GC and non-GC haplotypes) that has sex-dependent effects on immune gene expression, susceptibility to infection, and reproductive success of individuals in a natural population of field voles (Microtus agrestis).We found that the effect of the GC haplotype on the expression of immune genes differed between sexes.Regardless of sex, both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes were more highly relatively expressed in individuals with the GC haplotype than individuals without the haplotype.However, males with the GC haplotype showed a stronger signal for pro-inflammatory genes, while females showed a stronger signal for anti-inflammatory genes.Furthermore, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on the probability of infection with a common microparasite, Babesia microti, in females -with females carrying the GC haplotype being more likely to be infected.Finally, we found an effect of the GC haplotype on reproductive success in males -with males carrying the GC haplotype having a lower reproductive success.This is a rare example of a polymorphism whose consequences we are able to follow across immunity, infection, and reproduction for both males and females in a natural population. Editor's evaluationThis study provides an unusually comprehensive analysis of the associations between polymorphism in an immune gene, the immunoglobulin E receptor Fcer1a, and immune responses, resistance to infection, and reproductive fitness in a wild rodent population.The investigators find that these effects appear to be sex-specific.This study provides critical observations of the possible consequences of immune polymorphisms in wild populations and should be of interest to immunologists, evolutionary biologists, and ecologists investigating genotype-phenotype relationships and potential life-history tradeoffs.
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Funder: University of Liverpool
OpenAlex ID: W4316618212