The Marine Mammal Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex Organization

Sirenians share with cetaceans and pinnipeds several convergent traits selected for the aquatic lifestyle. Living in water poses new challenges not only for locomotion and feeding but also for combating new pathogens, which may render the immune system one of the best tools aquatic mammals have for dealing with aquatic microbial threats. So far, only cetaceans have had their class II Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) organization characterized, despite the importance of MHC genes for adaptive immune responses. This study aims to characterize the organization of the marine mammal class II MHC using publicly available genomes. We located class II sequences in the genomes of one sirenian, four pinnipeds and eight cetaceans using NCBI-BLAST and reannotated the sequences using local BLAST search with exon and intron libraries. Scaffolds containing class II sequences were compared using dotplot analysis and introns were used for phylogenetic analysis. The manatee class II region shares overall synteny with other mammals, however most DR loci were translocated from the canonical location, past the extended class II region. Detailed analysis of the genomes of closely related taxa revealed that this presumed translocation is shared with all other living afrotherians. Other presumptive chromosome rearrangements in Afrotheria are the deletion of DQ loci in Afrosoricida and deletion of DP in E. telfairi. Pinnipeds share the main features of dog MHC: lack of a functional pair of DPA/DPB genes and inverted DRB locus between DQ and DO subregions. All cetaceans share the Cetartiodactyla inversion separating class II genes into two subregions: class IIa, with DR and DQ genes, and class IIb, with non-classic genes and a DRB pseudogene. These results point to three distinct and unheralded class II MHC structures in marine mammals: one canonical organization but lacking DP genes in pinnipeds; one bearing an inversion separating IIa and IIb subregions lacking DP genes found in cetaceans; and one with a translocation separating the most diverse class II gene from the MHC found in afrotherians and presumptive functional DR, DQ, and DP genes. Future functional research will reveal how these aquatic mammals cope with pathogen pressures with these divergent MHC organizations

FIGURE 7 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 7. Comparison of the inner spermathecal capsules. a Inner spermathecal capsules in lateral view and spermathecal ducts of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov. b Inner spermathecal capsules in lateral view of Drosophila mesostigma (Frota-Pessoa, 1954, Plate XVIII, fig. 44).Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

FIGURE 4 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 4. Variation in the dark spots and distal dark bands of tergites. Tergites 2–4 and spots 5–6 of the abdomen of male paratypes of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov.Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 43, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

FIGURE 5 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 5. Male terminalia of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov. a–c Aedeagus in dorsal, right lateral and ventral views of the holotype. d Hypandrium. e Complete terminalia with epandrium, hypandrium and aedeagus of the holotype.Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 44, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira, Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio (2023): A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest. Zootaxa 5374 (1): 35-50, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, URL: https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/download/zootaxa.5374.1.2/5227

FIGURE 3 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 3. Habitus of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov. a–c Body in lateral, ventral and dorsal view of the male holotype. d dorsal view of the head of the female allotype e frontal view of the head of the female allotype f cuneiform bristles of the femur of the first pair of legs of the holotype. g wing of the female allotype.Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 42, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

FIGURE 1 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 1. Pots exposed on forest floor containing fallen flowers, and later covered with organza to check oviposition by drosophilids a Pot on forest floor among fallen branches b Pot containing decomposing flowers of Bertholletia excelsa c Pot containing decaying flowers of Eschweilera grandiflora.Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

FIGURE 2 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 2. Phylogeny of the D. tripunctata group. Reconstruction of the phylogeny created from the Maximum Likelihood method with the placement of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov. Values in the branches correspond to bootstrap and posterior probability supports, respectively, separated by a slash. M=Males and F=Females of D. lecythus sp. nov.Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt

FIGURE 6 in A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest

FIGURE 6. Comparison of the oviscapt valve. a Photomicrograph of the right oviscapt valve of Drosophila lecythus sp. nov. b Illustration of the right oviscapt valve of Drosophila mesostigma (Frota-Pessoa, 1954, Plate XVII, fig. 37).Published as part of <i>Maciel, Vinícius Queiroz, Burlamaqui, Tibério Cesar Tortola, Santa-Brígida, Rosângela, Santos, Rita De Cássia Oliveira & Martins, Marlúcia Bonifácio, 2023, A new species of the Drosophila tripunctata group (Diptera: Drosophilidae) associated with fallen flowers of six Lecythidaceae species in the Amazon Rainforest, pp. 35-50 in Zootaxa 5374 (1)</i> on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5374.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10145018">http://zenodo.org/record/10145018</a&gt