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Maintenance of DQB1 polymorphisms in primates.
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1992
Year
HistocompatibilityDqb1 PolymorphismsGeneticsHla ImmunogeneticsGenetic EpidemiologyImmunologyHuman PolymorphismImmune-related Gene PolymorphismDqb1 PolymorphismImmunogeneticsMolecular EcologyBetween-species DiversityHost GeneticsPublic HealthGenetic VariationPopulation GeneticsAllelic VariantGenetic DisorderEvolutionary BiologyMedicineWithin-species Diversity
To understand the evolution of the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) DQB1 locus in primates, the second exons of seven DQB1 alleles from five non-human primate species were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Comparisons of these and other primate sequences show that no between-species diversity is greater than within-species diversity, suggesting maintenance of DQB1 alleles through the history of Old-World primates. There is a preponderance of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions at antigen-binding-site codons; this pattern is in marked contrast to what is seen at the closely related, presumably nonfunctional DQB2 gene. The results support the hypothesis that DQB1 polymorphism is maintained by overdominant selection relating to antigen presentation.