Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorMarjamäki, PH
dc.contributor.authorDugdale, HL
dc.contributor.authorDelahay, R
dc.contributor.authorMcDonald, RA
dc.contributor.authorWilson, AJ
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-19T12:54:03Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-22
dc.description.abstractWithin host populations, individuals can vary in their susceptibility to infections and in the severity and progression of disease once infected. Though mediated through differences in behaviour, resistance or tolerance, variation in disease outcomes ultimately stems from genetic and environmental (including social) factors. Despite obvious implications for the evolutionary, ecological and epidemiological dynamics of disease traits, the relative importance of these factors has rarely been quantified in naturally infected wild animal hosts. Here, we use a long-term capture-mark44 recapture study of group-living European badgers (Meles meles) to characterise genetic and environmental sources of variation in host infection status by Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). We find that genetic factors contribute to M. bovis infection status, whether measured over a lifetime or across repeated captures. In the latter case the heritability (h2 48 ) of infection status is close to zero in cubs and yearlings but increases in adulthood. Overall, environmental influences arising from a combination of social group membership (defined in time and space) and maternal effects appear to be more important than genetic factors. Thus, while genes do contribute to among-individual variation, they play a comparatively minor role, meaning that rapid evolution of host defences under parasite-mediated selection is unlikely (especially if selection is on young animals where h2 53 is lowest). Conversely, our results lend further support to the view that social and early-life environments are important drivers of the dynamics of bTB infection in badger populations specifically, and of disease traits in wild hosts more generally.en_GB
dc.description.sponsorshipAnimal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agencyen_GB
dc.description.sponsorshipNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)en_GB
dc.identifier.citationPublished online 22 February 2021en_GB
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jeb.13775
dc.identifier.grantnumberNE/L009897/1en_GB
dc.identifier.grantnumberNE/M004546/1
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10871/124817
dc.language.isoenen_GB
dc.publisherWiley / European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)en_GB
dc.relation.urlhttps://doi.org/10.24378/exe.3104
dc.rights.embargoreasonUnder embargo until 22 February 2022 in compliance with publisher policyen_GB
dc.rights© 2021 Wiley. All rights reserved
dc.subjectbovine tuberculosisen_GB
dc.subjectinfection statusen_GB
dc.subjectquantitative geneticsen_GB
dc.subjectMycobacterium bovisen_GB
dc.subjectMeles melesen_GB
dc.titleGenetic, social and maternal contributions to Mycobacterium bovis infection status in European badgers (Meles meles)en_GB
dc.typeArticleen_GB
dc.date.available2021-02-19T12:54:03Z
dc.identifier.issn1010-061X
dc.descriptionThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recorden_GB
dc.descriptionData availability: Data used in this study are publicly archived in Open Research Exeter (ORE) at https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.3104en_GB
dc.identifier.eissn1420-9101
dc.identifier.journalJournal of Evolutionary Biologyen_GB
dc.rights.urihttp://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserveden_GB
dcterms.dateAccepted2021-02-19
exeter.funder::Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agencyen_GB
exeter.funder::Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agencyen_GB
exeter.funder::Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agencyen_GB
exeter.funder::Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)en_GB
rioxxterms.versionAMen_GB
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate2021-02-19
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Reviewen_GB
refterms.dateFCD2021-02-19T12:09:57Z
refterms.versionFCDAM
refterms.panelAen_GB


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record