MHC, parasites and antler development in XXXX : no support for the Hamilton _ Zuk hypothesis.

@entity281 @entity2199 @entity2498
UNASSIGNED: The Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis proposes that the genetic benefits of preferences for elaborated secondary sexual traits have their origins in the arms race between hosts and parasites, which maintains genetic variance in parasite resistance. Infection, in turn, can be reflected in the expression of costly sexual ornaments. However, the link between immune genes, @entity281 , and the expression of secondary sexual traits has rarely been investigated. Here, we explored whether the presence and identity of functional variants (supertypes) of the highly polymorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is responsible for the recognition of parasites, predict the load of lung and gut parasites and antler development in the @entity2498 ( @entity2498 ). While we found MHC supertypes to be associated with @entity281 by a number of parasite species, including debilitating lung @entity2199 , we did not find support for the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis. On the contrary, we found that lung @entity2199 load was positively associated with antler development. We also found that the supertypes that were associated with resistance to certain parasites at the same time cause susceptibility to others. Such tradeoffs may undermine the potential genetic benefits of mate choice for resistant partners. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
