How adaptive antibodies facilitate the evolution of natural antibodies.
It is shown how Ig specificities, randomly generated in conventional B cells, come to be expressed in the genetically-determinate B1 population. Thus the adaptive antibody population facilitates the evolution of the natural antibody repertoire, in accordance with the Baldwin effect in the evolution of instinct. The evolution of these two populations is discussed under both the 'proximal usage' and 'preferential expression' hypotheses of biased Ig gene segment usage. This process is independent of theories of B1 function.
Anderson
R W
RW
Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Berkeley 94704, USA.
D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*