Titre
Major histocompatibility complex-linked social signalling affects female fertility.
Type
article
Institution
UNIL/CHUV/Unisanté + institutions partenaires
Auteur(s)
Burger, D.
Auteure/Auteur
Thomas, S.
Auteure/Auteur
Aepli, H.
Auteure/Auteur
Dreyer, M.
Auteure/Auteur
Fabre, G.
Auteure/Auteur
Marti, E.
Auteure/Auteur
Sieme, H.
Auteure/Auteur
Robinson, M.R.
Auteure/Auteur
Wedekind, C.
Auteure/Auteur
Liens vers les personnes
Liens vers les unités
ISSN
1471-2954
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2017-12-06
Volume
284
Numéro
1868
Première page
20171824
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Langue
anglais
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Publication Status: ppublish
Résumé
Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been shown to influence social signalling and mate preferences in many species, including humans. First observations suggest that MHC signalling may also affect female fertility. To test this hypothesis, we exposed 191 female horses ( <i>Equus caballus</i> ) to either an MHC-similar or an MHC-dissimilar stimulus male around the time of ovulation and conception. A within-subject experimental design controlled for non-MHC-linked male characteristics, and instrumental insemination with semen of other males ( <i>n</i> = 106) controlled for potential confounding effects of semen or embryo characteristics. We found that females were more likely to become pregnant if exposed to an MHC-dissimilar than to an MHC-similar male, while overall genetic distance to the stimulus males (based on microsatellite markers on 20 chromosomes) had no effect. Our results demonstrate that early pregnancy failures can be due to maternal life-history decisions (cryptic female choice) influenced by MHC-linked social signalling.
PID Serval
serval:BIB_30EE7C2B84F4
PMID
Date de création
2017-11-02T13:42:26.131Z
Date de création dans IRIS
2025-05-20T19:45:47Z
Fichier(s)![Vignette d'image]()
En cours de chargement...
Nom
Burger et al. Proc B 2017.pdf
Version du manuscrit
postprint
Taille
3.97 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
PID Serval
serval:BIB_30EE7C2B84F4.P006
URN
urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_30EE7C2B84F44
Somme de contrôle
(MD5):a5d20b87d5de128dc0fe3f8edd6bd139