DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Effects of immune gene diversity on immune function and survival in an endangered bird

病原体日益增加的出现和传播是人类和野生动物种群的严重关切。濒危物种面临的威胁要大得多，因为它们的遗传多样性往往减少，这可能损害免疫功能，增加它们对疾病的易感性。然而，到目前为止，还没有研究直接检查免疫基因的多样性及其与疾病抗性和生存的关系。在大草原鸡中，我们之前发现，在小种群中，各种免疫基因的多样性减少了，但目前还不清楚这将如何影响个体。目前的研究将扩展这一研究，并专门研究个体的免疫基因多样性如何与他们的免疫功能和野外生存相关。因此，这项研究的结果将为免疫基因多样性对个体生存乃至整个种群的重要性提供更广泛的理解。未成年的?草原鸡是北美最濒危的鸟类之一。剩余野生种群的持续存在完全依赖于德克萨斯州的大规模圈养繁殖和释放计划。每年大约有200只人工饲养的幼崽被放生，但其中79%的幼崽在9个月内死亡。众所周知，近亲繁殖的个体存活率更高，但之前的研究表明，全基因组遗传多样性与四种病原体抗性免疫测定之间没有关系。密集的圈养繁殖和释放计划为研究免疫基因多样性如何直接影响免疫功能和生存提供了无与伦比的机会。本研究将描述草原鸡的免疫基因多样性（包括先天免疫和获得性免疫），并将其与先前释放的鸟类的免疫功能和生存数据相关联。这项研究的结果将为免疫基因和生存之间的联系提供更广泛的理解，因此，帮助管理者做出明智的决定，决定哪些个体配对繁殖或释放到野外。

The increasing emergence and spread of pathogens are serious concerns for both human and wildlife populations. The threat is substantially greater for populations of endangered species because they often have reduced genetic diversity, which could impair immune function and increase their susceptibility to disease. However, to date no studies have directly examined diversity at immune genes and their relationship to both disease resistance and survival. In greater prairie-chickens, we previously found that diversity at a variety of immune genes was reduced in small populations, but it remains unclear how that will affect individuals. The current study will extend that research and specifically examine how immune gene diversity in individuals is related to their immune function and survival in the wild. Thus, the results from this study will provide a broader understanding of the importance of immune gene diversity to individual survival and ultimately entire populations. The Attwater?s prairie-chicken is one of the most endangered birds in North America. The persistence of the remaining wild population relies entirely on a large captive breeding and release program in Texas. About 200 captive-bred juveniles are released each year, but 79% of them die within nine months. It is known that outbred individuals have greater survival, but previous work showed no relationship between genome-wide genetic diversity and four immunological assays for pathogen resistance. The intense captive breeding and release program provides an unparalleled opportunity to study how diversity at immune genes directly influences immune function and survival. This study will characterize immune gene diversity across a wide array of immune genes (encompassing both innate and acquired immunity) in prairie-chickens and correlate it with data on immune function and survival already obtained from previously released birds. The results from this study will provide a broader understanding of the links between immune genes and survival, and, therefore, help managers make informed decisions about which individuals to pair for breeding or release into the wild.