Author response for "Evaluating the existence and benefit of major histocompatibility complex-based mate choice in an isolated owl population"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Sawada ◽  
Haruko Ando ◽  
Masaoki Takagi
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Author Response ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex

scholarly journals Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1800) ◽  
pp. 20190260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Havlíček ◽  
Jamie Winternitz ◽  
S. Craig Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Olfactory Communication ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Meta Analyses

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a core part of the adaptive immune system. As in other vertebrate taxa, it may also affect human chemical communication via odour-based mate preferences, with greater attraction towards MHC-dissimilar partners. However, despite some well-known findings, the available evidence is equivocal and made complicated by varied approaches to quantifying human mate choice. To address this, we here conduct comprehensive meta-analyses focusing on studies assessing: (i) genomic mate selection, (ii) relationship satisfaction, (iii) odour preference, and (iv) all studies combined. Analysis of genomic studies reveals no association between MHC-dissimilarity and mate choice in actual couples; however, MHC effects appear to be independent of the genomic background. The effect of MHC-dissimilarity on relationship satisfaction was not significant, and we found evidence for publication bias in studies on this area. There was also no significant association between MHC-dissimilarity and odour preferences. Finally, combining effect sizes from all genomic, relationship satisfaction, odour preference and previous mate choice studies into an overall estimate showed no overall significant effect of MHC-similarity on human mate selection. Based on these findings, we make a set of recommendations for future studies, focusing both on aspects that should be implemented immediately and those that lurk on the far horizon. We need larger samples with greater geographical and cultural diversity that control for genome-wide similarity. We also need more focus on mechanisms of MHC-associated odour preferences and on MHC-associated pregnancy loss. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.

scholarly journals Major histocompatibility complex peptide ligands as olfactory cues in human body odour assessment

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1755) ◽  
pp. 20122889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Milinski ◽  
Ilona Croy ◽  
Thomas Hummel ◽  
Thomas Boehm
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Vomeronasal Organ ◽  
Peptide Ligands ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Mhc Molecules ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Body Odour ◽  
The Right

In many animal species, social communication and mate choice are influenced by cues encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The mechanism by which the MHC influences sexual selection is a matter of intense debate. In mice, peptide ligands of MHC molecules activate subsets of vomeronasal and olfactory sensory neurons and influence social memory formation; in sticklebacks, such peptides predictably modify the outcome of mate choice. Here, we examine whether this evolutionarily conserved mechanism of interindividual communication extends to humans. In psychometric tests, volunteers recognized the supplementation of their body odour by MHC peptides and preferred ‘self’ to ‘non-self’ ligands when asked to decide whether the modified odour smelled ‘like themselves’ or ‘like their favourite perfume’. Functional magnetic resonance imaging indicated that ‘self’-peptides specifically activated a region in the right middle frontal cortex. Our results suggest that despite the absence of a vomeronasal organ, humans have the ability to detect and evaluate MHC peptides in body odour. This may provide a basis for the sensory evaluation of potential partners during human mate choice.

scholarly journals Sequence-based evidence for major histocompatibility complex-disassortative mating in a colonial seabird

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1726) ◽  
pp. 153-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans A. Juola ◽  
Donald C. Dearborn
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mhc Class Ii ◽  
Amino Acid Sequences ◽  
Allele Sharing ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Disassortative Mating ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Polymorphic Gene ◽  
Colonial Seabird

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a polymorphic gene family associated with immune defence, and it can play a role in mate choice. Under the genetic compatibility hypothesis, females choose mates that differ genetically from their own MHC genotypes, avoiding inbreeding and/or enhancing the immunocompetence of their offspring. We tested this hypothesis of disassortative mating based on MHC genotypes in a population of great frigatebirds ( Fregata minor ) by sequencing the second exon of MHC class II B. Extensive haploid cloning yielded two to four alleles per individual, suggesting the amplification of two genes. MHC similarity between mates was not significantly different between pairs that did ( n = 4) or did not ( n = 42) exhibit extra-pair paternity. Comparing all 46 mated pairs to a distribution based on randomized re-pairings, we observed the following (i): no evidence for mate choice based on maximal or intermediate levels of MHC allele sharing (ii), significantly disassortative mating based on similarity of MHC amino acid sequences, and (iii) no evidence for mate choice based on microsatellite alleles, as measured by either allele sharing or similarity in allele size. This suggests that females choose mates that differ genetically from themselves at MHC loci, but not as an inbreeding-avoidance mechanism.

scholarly journals Sexual selection explains more functional variation in the mammalian major histocompatibility complex than parasitism

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1769) ◽  
pp. 20131605 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Winternitz ◽  
S. G. Minchey ◽  
L. Z. Garamszegi ◽  
S. Huang ◽  
P. R. Stephens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Nucleotide Diversity ◽  
Major Histocompatibility ◽  
Parasite Richness ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Mhc Polymorphism ◽  
Testes Size ◽  
Mhc Diversity

Understanding drivers of genetic diversity at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is vitally important for predicting how vertebrate immune defence might respond to future selection pressures and for preserving immunogenetic diversity in declining populations. Parasite-mediated selection is believed to be the major selective force generating MHC polymorphism, and while MHC-based mating preferences also exist for multiple species including humans, the general importance of mate choice is debated. To investigate the contributions of parasitism and sexual selection in explaining among-species variation in MHC diversity, we applied comparative methods and meta-analysis across 112 mammal species, including carnivores, bats, primates, rodents and ungulates. We tested whether MHC diversity increased with parasite richness and relative testes size (as an indicator of the potential for mate choice), while controlling for phylogenetic autocorrelation, neutral mutation rate and confounding ecological variables. We found that MHC nucleotide diversity increased with parasite richness for bats and ungulates but decreased with parasite richness for carnivores. By contrast, nucleotide diversity increased with relative testes size for all taxa. This study provides support for both parasite-mediated and sexual selection in shaping functional MHC polymorphism across mammals, and importantly, suggests that sexual selection could have a more general role than previously thought.

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