Breeding indigenous African taurine cattle tolerant to trypanosomosis is a straightforward approach to control costs generated by this disease. A recent study identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying trypanotolerance traits in experimental crosses between tolerant N'Dama and susceptible Boran zebu cattle. As trypanotolerance is thought to result from local adaptation of indigenous cattle breeds, we propose an altern...

Host–pathogen interactions are of particular interest in studies of the interplay between population dynamics and natural selection. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes of demographically fluctuating species are highly suitable markers for such studies, because they are involved in initiating the immune response against pathogens and display a high level of adaptive genetic variation. We investigated whether two M...

In cyclic populations, high genetic diversity is currently reported despite the periodic low numbers experienced by the populations during the low phases. Here, we report spatio‐temporal monitoring at a very fine scale of cyclic populations of the fossorial water vole ( Arvicola terrestris ) during the increasing density phase. This phase marks the transition from a patchy structure (demes) during low density to a continuous p...

Genetic structure can be strongly affected by landscape features and variation through time and space of demographic parameters such as population size and migration rate. The fossorial water vole ( Arvicola terrestris ) is a cyclic species characterized by large demographic fluctuations over short periods of time. The outbreaks do not occur everywhere at the same time but spread as a wave at a regional scale. This leads to a...