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Nucleotide sequences of chimpanzee MHC class I alleles: evidence for trans‐species mode of evolution.
Author(s) -
Mayer W. E.,
Jonker M.,
Klein D.,
Ivanyi P.,
Seventer G.,
Klein J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03131.x
Subject(s) - planck , physics , biology , quantum mechanics
To obtain an insight into the evolutionary origin of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I polymorphism, a cDNA library was prepared from a heterozygous chimpanzee cell line expressing MHC class I molecules crossreacting with allele‐specific HLA‐A11 antibodies. The library was screened with human class I locus‐specific DNA probes, and clones encoding both alleles at the A and B loci have been identified and sequenced. In addition, the sequences of two HLA‐A11 subtypes differing by a single nucleotide substitution have been obtained. The comparison of chimpanzee and human sequences revealed a close similarity (up to 98.5%). The chimpanzee A locus alleles showed greatest similarity to the human HLA‐A11/A3 family of alleles, one of them being very close to HLA‐A11. Similarly, segments of the ChLA‐B alleles displayed greatest similarity to certain HLA‐B alleles. The calculated evolutionary branch point for the A11‐like alleles is 7 x 10(6) to 9 x 10(6) years, whereas the other A locus alleles diverged between 12 x 10(6) and 17 x 10(6) years ago. Since the human and chimpanzee lineages separated 5 x 10(6) to 7 x 10(6) years ago, our data support the notion that during evolution, MHC alleles are transmitted from one species to the next.