ArticleBiology letters2013
Low major histocompatibility complex diversity in the Tasmanian devil predates European settlement and may explain susceptibility to disease epidemics.
Article in Biology letters, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Boost or Bust? The Impact of Supplementation on Functional Genetic Diversity and Selective Processes in Tasmanian Devils.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- No Evidence for Distinct Transcriptomic Subgroups of Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD).Evolutionary applications · 2025Article
- Detectability of runs of homozygosity is influenced by analysis parameters and population-specific demographic history.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Chromosomal-level reference genome assembly of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) from Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic, a resource for conservation genomics.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Restoring faith in conservation action: Maintaining wild genetic diversity through the Tasmanian devil insurance program.iScience · 2022Article
- Article
- The ecology and evolution of wildlife cancers: Applications for management and conservation.Evolutionary applications · 2020Article
- Curse of the devil: molecular insights into the emergence of transmissible cancers in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2020Review
- Contemporary Demographic Reconstruction Methods Are Robust to Genome Assembly Quality: A Case Study in Tasmanian Devils.Molecular biology and evolution · 2019Article
- Fecal Viral Diversity of Captive and Wild Tasmanian Devils Characterized Using Virion-Enriched Metagenomics and Metatranscriptomics.Journal of virology · 2019Article
- Complex problems need detailed solutions: Harnessing multiple data types to inform genetic management in the wild.Evolutionary applications · 2019Article
- Conserving adaptive potential: lessons from Tasmanian devils and their transmissible cancer.Conservation genetics (Print) · 2019Article
- Evaluating recovery potential of the northern white rhinoceros from cryopreserved somatic cells.Genome research · 2018Article
- Hidden MHC genetic diversity in the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica).BMC genetics · 2018Article
- MHC diversity and female age underpin reproductive success in an Australian icon; the Tasmanian Devil.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- No evidence of inbreeding depression in a Tasmanian devil insurance population despite significant variation in inbreeding.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Spatial patterns of immunogenetic and neutral variation underscore the conservation value of small, isolated American badger populations.Evolutionary applications · 2016Article
- 'Disperse abroad in the land': the role of wildlife in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance.Biology letters · 2016Review
- A second transmissible cancer in Tasmanian devils.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2016Article
- The identification of immune genes in the milk transcriptome of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).PeerJ · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is at risk of extinction owing to the emergence of a contagious cancer known as devil facial tumour disease (DFTD). The emergence and spread of DFTD has been linked to low genetic diversity in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). We examined MHC diversity in historical and ancient devils to determine whether loss of diversity is recent or predates European settlement in Australia. Our results reveal no additional diversity in historical Tasmanian samples. Mainland devils had common modern variants plus six new variants that are highly similar to existing alleles. We conclude that low MHC diversity has been a feature of devil populations since at least the Mid-Holocene and could explain their tumultuous history of population crashes.
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