Fig. 1: Indicators for meerkat TB infection and alternative mechanisms of PMBS.

a, Contrast between meerkats without clinical signs of Mycobacterium suricattae infection and those displaying swelling of head lymph nodes (for example, white arrow in central picture), open lesions (for example, white arrow in right picture) and physical deterioration. b, A comparison between allele frequency distribution, population structure and MHC–pathogen association allows to differentiate evolution at the MHC from evolution at neutral markers and to inferentially distinguish between possible non-mutually exclusive mechanisms of PMBS (visually adapted from ref. 9). Meerkat photo credit: Simone Sommer and Shaylee Alderton. This figure was created with BioRender.com.