A previous seroepidemiological study in Germany as well as this one revealed substantial regional variations of immunity levels to Polio 3 [ 10].
The high levels of variation characteristic of immunity genes make them useful tools for conservation genetics.
The influence of environment, genetic background or nutritional status cannot be ruled out to explain the variation of specific immunity observed in our study.
Recently characterized functions of bacterial protein glycosylation include adhesion, protection against proteases, antigenic variation, and evasion of immunity [5], [12], [33] [38].
In contrast to the many works on MHC variation in wild vertebrate populations, findings of immunity gene variation in invertebrate animals are only beginning to emerge.
Parasite strain-restricted immunity is well documented for the poultry intestinal protozoan Eimeria maxima, and immunodominance of T-cell responses has been proposed to account for the observed variation in strain specificity of immunity in different inbred lines of birds 45.
No substantiated inferences in regard to the existence of protective immunity in males resulted from our study: SIS2 was not sensitive to variations in the degree of immunity in males.
Reef-building (hermatypic) corals are especially suitable targets for studies of immunity gene variation for several reasons.
This situation arises in populations with a low level of immunity, where variation in exposure is not countered by the development of immunity.
The size of epidemics and their relative effect reflect interplay between antigenic variation of the virus, protective immunity in the population, and relative virulence of the viruses.
