ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2009
Influence of major histocompatibility complex genotype on mating success in a free-ranging reptile population.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genomic structural variation rescues a classic biological invader from a population bottleneck.Science advances · 2026Article
- Genomes of two Extinct-in-the-Wild reptiles from Christmas Island reveal distinct evolutionary histories and conservation insights.Molecular ecology resources · 2025Article
- Immune stress and diet influence reproductive fitness in male tuatara (Current zoology · 2024Article
- Effect of MHC and inbreeding on disassortative reproduction: A data revisit, extension and inclusion of fertilization in sand lizards.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Sex Differences in Mate Choice Preference Characteristics ofAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Genetic diversity of major histocompatibility complex class I genes in Zootoca vivipara.Bioscience reports · 2020Article
- MHC-Based Mate Choice in Wild Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys.Frontiers in genetics · 2020Article
- "Balancing" balancing selection? Assortative mating at the major histocompatibility complex despite molecular signatures of balancing selection.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
- How accurately do behavioural observations predict reproductive success in free-ranging lizards?Biology letters · 2019Article
- The best smellers make the best choosers: mate choice is affected by female chemosensory receptor gene diversity in a mammal.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Specific MHC class I supertype associated with parasite infection and color morph in a wild lizard population.Ecology and evolution · 2018Article
- Article
- MHC-dependent mate choice is linked to a trace-amine-associated receptor gene in a mammal.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Chemical composition of preen wax reflects major histocompatibility complex similarity in songbirds.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2016Article
- Mate choice for neutral and MHC genetic characteristics in Alpine marmots: different targets in different contexts?Ecology and evolution · 2016Article
- Choosy Wolves? Heterozygote Advantage But No Evidence of MHC-Based Disassortative Mating.The Journal of heredity · 2016Article
- Copy number variation and genetic diversity of MHC Class IIb alleles in an alien population of Xenopus laevis.Immunogenetics · 2015Article
- Female major histocompatibility complex type affects male testosterone levels and sperm number in the horse (Equus caballus).Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2015Article
- Crozier's paradox revisited: maintenance of genetic recognition systems by disassortative mating.BMC evolutionary biology · 2013Review
- MHC class IIB exon 2 polymorphism in the Grey partridge (Perdix perdix) is shaped by selection, recombination and gene conversion.PloS one · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are highly polymorphic components of the vertebrate immune system, which play a key role in pathogen resistance. MHC genes may also function as odour-related cues for mate choice, thus ensuring optimal MHC diversity in offspring. MHC-associated mate choice has been demonstrated in some fish, bird and mammal species but it is not known whether this is a general vertebrate phenomenon. We investigated whether MHC-associated mate choice occurs in a wild population of tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), a territorial and sexually dimorphic reptile. We found weak evidence for MHC-disassortative mating, based on amino acid genotypic distance between pairs, when mated pairs were directly compared with potential pairs in close spatial proximity. No significant association was found between male mating success, number of MHC sequences, microsatellite heterozygosity or MHC lineage. The major determinant of mating success in tuatara was male body size, which was not related to MHC lineage or microsatellite heterozygosity. Our results suggest that male competitive ability is the primary driver of mating success in tuatara. However, MHC-associated preferences also appear to play a role, possibly as a kin avoidance mechanism during territory formation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.