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MONOMORPHIC ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN DIVERSITY (D H ) HEAVY CHAIN VARIABLE GENES
Author(s) -
Chastagner P.,
Theze J.,
Zouali M.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal of immunogenetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1744-313X
pISSN - 1744-3121
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-313x.1992.tb00073.x
Subject(s) - locus (genetics) , genetics , biology , gene , population , balancing selection , evolutionary biology , demography , sociology
SUMMARY While recent evidence indicates that human immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (V H ) genes exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity, little is known concerning the polymorphism of the diversity (D H ) gene complex. This locus comprises two clusters, major and minor, which are physically linked with the V H locus. In assessing the variability of the human major and minor D H clusters, we found no evidence for a substantial restriction site polymorphism. We also noted that, in contrast to what was found in the Japanese population, the D H 1 gene is not deleted in an appreciable proportion of the European population. We propose that, because D H genes impart the critical functions associated with the third complementarity‐determining region, the genomic organization of the human D H locus has been evolutionarily conserved through selection pressure mechanisms.