Association between louse abundance and MHC II supertypes in Galápagos mockingbirds
Abstrakt
In this thesis I describe association between abundance of ectoparasitic
lice and supertypes of major histocompatibility complex in mockingbirds
of Galápagos islands. I report a significant association between several
supertypes and the lice abundance. Lice abundance was correlated also
with heterocyte to lymphocyte ratio, an immunogenetic index reflecting
rate of immune stress. This scientific contribution is valuable, because
ectoparasite abundance in birds was rarely contrasted to MHC and other
immune indices.