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Genetic Considerations in Human Sex‐Mate Selection: Partners Share Human Leukocyte Antigen but not Short‐Tandem‐Repeat Identity Markers
Author(s) -
Israeli Moshe,
Kristt Don,
Nardi Yuval,
Klein Tirza
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/aji.12213
Subject(s) - human leukocyte antigen , biology , population , mate choice , genetics , allele , mating preferences , antigen , sexual selection , selection (genetic algorithm) , major histocompatibility complex , mating , evolutionary biology , demography , gene , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Problem Previous studies support a role for MHC on mating preference, yet it remains unsettled as to whether mating occurs preferentially between individuals sharing human leukocyte antigen ( HLA ) determinants or not. Investigating sex‐mate preferences in the contemporary Israeli population is of further curiosity being a population with distinct genetic characteristics, where multifaceted cultural considerations influence mate selection. Method of study Pairs of male–female sex partners were evaluated in three groups. Two groups represented unmarried ( n = 1002) or married ( n = 308) couples and a control group of fictitious male–female couples. HLA and short‐tandem‐repeat ( STR ) genetic identification markers were assessed for the frequency of shared antigens and alleles. Results Human leukocyte antigen results showed that Class I and/ or Class II single antigen as well as double antigen sharing was more common in sex partners than in control group couples ( P < 0.001). Married versus unmarried pairs were not distinguishable. In contrast, STR ‐ DNA markers failed to differentiate between sex‐mates and controls ( P = 0.78). Conclusion Sex partnerships shared HLA determinants more frequently than randomly constituted male–female pairs. The observed phenomenon does not reflect a syngenetic background between sex‐mates as STR markers were not selectively shared. Thus, sex‐mate selection in man may contravene the evolutionary pressure for genetic diversity in regard to HLA .