title: An antecedent of the MHC-linked genomic region in amphioxus.
abstract: The MHC genes on human chromosome 6 are located within one of the best-characterised paralogy regions of the human genome. Numerous genes mapping around this location, 6p21, have paralogues at one, two or three other chromosomal locations on HSA 1, 9 and 19. The similarity between these four chromosomal regions suggests the linkages may have adaptive significance, and/or they may be echoes of segmental or genome duplication in human ancestry. Here, we show that six amphioxus cosmids, containing genes orthologous to those from the human MHC-linked paralogy regions, map to a single amphioxus chromosome. The composition of the MHC-linked genomic region, therefore, pre-dates vertebrate origins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: L Filipe C
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Rebecca F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Furlong
authors.forename: Peter W H
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002816:Chordata, Nonvertebrate / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D005810:Multigene Family