HLA-C and infection: Several studies have shown that MHC genes are important for mate choice in several vertebrate species, with females not only benefiting directly by mating with “healthy” males (i.e., females may be less likely to be infected with pathogens from their mates) but also indirectly by producing offspring with enhanced capacity to fight pathogen infection (Landry et al., 2001; Richardson et al., 2005; Santos et al., 2017; Rekdal et al., 2019).