Polymorphisms in olfactory receptor genes: a cautionary note.
The hundreds of human olfactory receptor (OR) genes are organized into clusters occurring on nearly every chromosome. Although their sequences are not always closely related, they share stretches of considerable similarity, both at the amino acid and nucleotide levels. We demonstrate here that an HLA complex-linked OR sequence, FAT11, for which recently a number of alleles have been claimed within the Hutterites, contains sequences derived from two closely related, linked OR genes, hs6M1-12 and hs6M1-16. Instead of indicating a difference between alleles of a given locus, two of the polymorphisms described for FAT11 (at amino acids 48 and 220 of the deduced protein sequence, respectively) may in fact reflect distinct sequences of hs6M1-12 and a further, closely related HLA-linked OR locus, hs6M1-13P. As a consequence, recombination rates in Hutterites in the region telomeric of HLA-G may have to be reconsidered.
Ziegler
A
A
Institut für Immungenetik, Universitätsklinikum Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. andreas.ziegler@charite.de
Ehlers
A
A
Forbes
S
S
Trowsdale
J
J
Volz
A
A
Younger
R
R
Beck
S
S
D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016477:Artifacts; D001482:Base Composition; D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D002460:Cell Line; D002896:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6 / Q000235:genetics; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics*; D013023:South Dakota
D003062:Codon; D017931:DNA Primers; D006680:HLA Antigens; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C095526:OR2H2 protein, human; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018035:Receptors, Odorant