Relative importance of genetic variability for predicting parasitism

疾病不会以同样的方式影响所有人。为什么一种动物会生病，而另一种动物，暴露在同样的环境条件下，仍然健康？ 解决这个问题是疾病生态学的一个核心挑战。答案可能在于个体基因组成的差异。 有些个体比其他个体具有更大的等位基因多样性。 来自近亲繁殖种群的证据表明，个体的遗传多样性可能与寄生水平降低有关，但这种关系从未在大型自然种群中进行过研究。这项研究将解决两个问题。 遗传多样性能增强个体抵抗寄生虫的能力吗？ 相对于许多其他因素，遗传多样性的影响有多重要？这些问题将通过从一个大的，经过充分研究的动物种群中产生个体动物的遗传和寄生虫谱来解决。 将使用统计模型来评估遗传变异在确定寄生虫负担方面的重要性，人类福祉在某种程度上真正取决于对控制疾病的因素的基本了解。 这项研究将加强对遗传学在控制抗寄生性中的作用的理解。 将培养一名博士后和一名本科生。

Diseases do not affect all individuals in the same way. Why does one animal get sick, when another, exposed to the same environmental conditions, remains healthy? Answering this question offers a central challenge in disease ecology. The answer may lie in differences in genetic make-up of individuals. Some individuals have a greater diversity of alleles than other individuals do. Evidence from inbred populations suggests that an individual's genetic diversity might be associated with reduced levels of parasitism, but this relationship has never been examined in a large, natural population. This research will address two questions. Does genetic diversity enhance an individual's ability to resist parasites? How important is the effect of genetic diversity relative to the many other factors that are also known to be strong predictors of parasitism? These questions will be addressed by generating genetic and parasite profiles for individual animals from a large, well-studied, animal population. Statistical models will be used to assess the importance of genetic variability in determining parasite burdens.Human welfare depends in a way that is truly fundamental on a basic understanding of the factors that control disease. This research will enhance understanding of the role of genetics in controlling resistance to parasitism. A post-doctoral student and undergraduate students will be trained.