Data for: High elevation adaptation is associated with functional changes in the immune response of deer mice

Adaptation to high altitude environments shapes whole organism physiology,
but effects on the immune system are relatively understudied. These
datasets, data processing scripts, and analyses evaluate whether local
adaptation to high altitudes in the North American deer mouse (Peromsycus
maniculatus) has led to differentiation in and differential function of
the immune system. Deer mice derived from low and high altitude
populations were bred in a common-garden environment and challenged with
lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of bacterial cell walls. We
collected data on the febrile response (fever) and acute phase response
(body mass loss and anorexia) over 12 days following LPS challenge. We
also collected data on phenotypic metrics and splenic tissue following an
acute challenge with the same LPS dose. Together, these data and analyses
demonstrate that low and high-altitude deer mice have diverged in their
immune responses to a common challenge in ways that may be consequential
for novel pathogen spread in high altitude environments.