Using heterozygosity–fitness correlations to study inbreeding depression in an isolated population of white-tailed deer founded by few individuals

A heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) may reflect inbreeding depression, but the extent to which they do so is debated. HFCs are particularly likely to occur after demographic disturbances such as population bottleneck or admixture. We here study HFC in an introduced and isolated ungulate population of white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in Finland founded in 1934 by four individuals. A total of 422 ≥ 1-year-old white-tailed deer were collected in the 2012 hunting season in southern Finland and genotyped for 14 microsatellite loci. We find significant identity disequilibrium as estimated by g2. Heterozygosity was positively associated with size- and age-corrected body mass, but not with jaw size or (in males) antler score. Because of the relatively high identity disequilibrium, heterozygosity of the marker panel explained 51% of variation in inbreeding. Inbreeding explained approximately 4% of the variation in body mass and is thus a minor, although significant source of var...

杂合度-适合度相关性（heterozygosity–fitness correlations, HFCs）或许可反映近交衰退，但二者的关联程度仍存在争议。在种群瓶颈、种群混合等种群扰动事件发生后，杂合度-适合度相关性尤为容易出现。本研究针对芬兰一处由4只个体于1934年建立的引种隔离有蹄类种群——白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus）的杂合度-适合度相关性展开分析。2012年狩猎季，我们在芬兰南部共采集了422只年龄≥1年的白尾鹿样本，并对其14个微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）进行基因分型。通过g2统计量估算，我们发现了显著的同一性不平衡（identity disequilibrium）。研究结果显示，个体杂合度与体型及年龄校正后的体重呈显著正相关，但与颌骨大小、（雄性个体的）鹿角评分无明显关联。由于本研究中的同一性不平衡程度较高，所用标记面板的杂合度可解释51%的近交系数变异；近交系数则可解释约4%的体重变异，因此近交虽是体重变异的一个虽显著但次要的来源……