De novo genotyping of the major histocompatibility complex in an Australian dragon lizard, Ctenophorus decresii

ABSTRACT The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a hypervariable gene family that plays an essential role in the recognition of pathogens and immune response. Research on the reptilian MHC has lagged behind other vertebrate groups. Here, we genotyped individuals of an Australian agamid lizard species at MHC class I loci using a recently developed clustering method and family group data. Our method allowed identification of low amplification efficiency alleles and estimation of both type I and II genotyping error rates. The number of MHC class I alleles per individual varied within populations and together with allele segregation patterns, suggests either natural copy number variation or allele dropout. Genotypes from individuals across five populations revealed shared alleles among populations and low allelic diversity in an island population. Finally, we identified sites under selection and designated them putative peptide binding regions. Our results provide a foundation for future work on the MHC class I region of agamid lizards.