Genetic variation of the MHC class II DRB genes in the Japanese weasel, Mustela itatsi, endemic to Japan, compared with the Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica

Tunghai University Institutional Repository > 理學院 > 生命科學系所 > 期刊論文 > Item 310901/28119

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://140.128.103.80:8080/handle/310901/28119

Title:	Genetic variation of the MHC class II DRB genes in the Japanese weasel, Mustela itatsi, endemic to Japan, compared with the Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica
Authors:	林良恭 Y.Nishita A.V.Abramov P.A.Kosintsev Lin, L.-K S.Watanabe K.Yamazaki Y.Kaneko R.Masuda
Contributors:	Hokkaido University Tunghai University Tokyo University of Agriculture
Keywords:	MHC class II DRB Mustela itatsi Mustela sibirica
Date:	2015-11
Issue Date:	2016-08-29T08:02:40Z (UTC)
Publisher:	USA:John Wiley & Sons
Abstract:	Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes encode proteins that play a critical role in vertebrate immune system and are highly polymorphic. To further understand the molecular evolution of the MHC genes, we compared MHC class II DRB genes between the Japanese weasel (Mustela itatsi), a species endemic to Japan, and the Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica), a closely related species on the continent. We sequenced a 242-bp region of DRB exon 2, which encodes antigen-binding sites (ABS), and found 24 alleles from 31 M. itatsi individuals and 17 alleles from 21 M. sibirica individuals, including broadly distributed, species-specific and/or geographically restricted alleles. Our results suggest that pathogen-driven balancing selection have acted to maintain the diversity in the DRB genes. For predicted ABS, nonsynonymous substitutions exceeded synonymous substitutions, also indicating positive selection, which was not seen at non-ABS. In a Bayesian phylogenetic tree, two M. sibirica DRB alleles were basal to the rest of the sequences from mustelid species and may represent ancestral alleles. Trans-species polymorphism was evident between many mustelid DRB alleles, especially between M. itatsi and M. sibirica. These two Mustela species divided about 1.7 million years ago, but still share many MHC alleles, indicative of their close phylogenetic relationship.
Relation:	Tissue Antigens, 86(6), 431-442
Appears in Collections:	[生命科學系所] 期刊論文

Files in This Item:

There are no files associated with this item.

View Licence

Loading...