Diversifying selection at the Major Histocompatibility Complex class II beta in the New Zealand endemic Hochstetter’s frog, <em>Leiopelma hochstetteri</em>  — ASN Events
  1. Schedule
  2. Symposium 3A: Reptile and Amphibian genetics
  3. Diversifying selection at the Major Histocompatibility Complex class II beta in the New Zealand endemic Hochstetter’s frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri 

Diversifying selection at the Major Histocompatibility Complex class II beta in the New Zealand endemic Hochstetter’s frog, Leiopelma hochstetteri  (#47)

Mette Lillie 1 , Robyn Howitt 2 , Jolene T Sutton 3 , Phillip J Bishop 4 , Dianne Gleeson 2 5 , Katherine Belov 1
  1. Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  2. Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand
  3. Department of Biology, University of Hawaii , Honolulu, USA
  4. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  5. University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

The New Zealand native frogs, family Leiopelmatidae, are among the most archaic in the world and all four species are among the top 100 evolutionary distinct and globally endangered (EDGE) amphibians. Leiopelma hochstetteri (Hochstetter’s frog) is a small, semi-aquatic frog with numerous, fragmented populations scattered across the northern North Island. We aimed to characterize diversity of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class II beta in L. hochstetteri to gauge the immunogenetic health of five sampled populations, comparing neutral microsatellite (STR) markers. We characterized the MHC class II DAB gene from a spleen transcriptome and used cloning and sequencing to investigate diversity. Populations showed higher differentiation at the DAB locus than at microsatellite markers, suggesting the action of diversifying selection whereby selective forces have varied across L. hochstetteri populations. This has led to unique DAB variation in each population and enhancing total allelic diversity, with 74 unique alleles observed in 121 animals. We also observed very low DAB diversity in the Otawa population. This population may be of greater extinction risk from future disease challenges given its limited range of MHC alleles.