Environmentally persistent pathogens present unique challenges for studies of host-pathogen interactions: Reply to Field (2018).

: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.

Development of a genotype-by-sequencing immunogenetic assay as exemplified by screening for variation in red fox with and without endemic rabies exposure.

Pathogens are recognized as major drivers of local adaptation in wildlife systems. By determining which gene variants are favored in local interactions among populations with and without disease, spatially explicit adaptive responses to pathogens can be elucidated. Much of our current understanding of host responses to disease comes from a small number of genes associated with an immune response.

Profiling the immunome of little brown myotis provides a yardstick for measuring the genetic response to white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has devastated populations of hibernating bats in eastern North America, leading to emergency conservation listings for several species including the previously ubiquitous little brown myotis (). However, some bat populations near the epicenter of the WNS panzootic appear to be stabilizing after initial precipitous declines, which could reflect a selective immunogenetic sweep. To investigate the hypothesis that WNS exerts significant selection on the immunome of affected bat populations, we developed a novel, high-throughput sequence capture assay targeting 138 adaptive, intrinsic, and innate immunity genes of putative adaptive significance, as well as their respective regulatory regions (~370 kbp of genomic sequence/individual).

The other white-nose syndrome transcriptome: Tolerant and susceptible hosts respond differently to the pathogen .

Mitigation of emerging infectious diseases that threaten global biodiversity requires an understanding of critical host and pathogen responses to infection. For multihost pathogens where pathogen virulence or host susceptibility is variable, host-pathogen interactions in tolerant species may identify potential avenues for adaptive evolution in recently exposed, susceptible hosts. For example, the fungus causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating bats and is responsible for catastrophic declines in some species in North America, where it was recently introduced.

Spatial patterns of immunogenetic and neutral variation underscore the conservation value of small, isolated American badger populations.

Small and isolated populations often exhibit low genetic diversity due to drift and inbreeding, but may simultaneously harbour adaptive variation. We investigate spatial distributions of immunogenetic variation in American badger subspecies (), as a proxy for evaluating their evolutionary potential across the northern extent of the species' range. We compared genetic structure of 20 microsatellites and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC DRB exon 2) to evaluate whether small, isolated populations show low adaptive polymorphism relative to large and well-connected populations.