title: MHC class I A region diversity and polymorphism in macaque species.
abstract: The HLA-A locus represents a single copy gene that displays abundant allelic polymorphism in the human population, whereas, in contrast, a nonhuman primate species such as the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) possesses multiple HLA-A-like (Mamu-A) genes, which parade varying degrees of polymorphism. The number and combination of transcribed Mamu-A genes present per chromosome display diversity in a population of Indian animals. At present, it is not clearly understood whether these different A region configurations are evolutionarily stable entities. To shed light on this issue, rhesus macaques from a Chinese population and a panel of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were screened for various A region-linked variations. Comparisons demonstrated that most A region configurations are old entities predating macaque speciation, whereas most allelic variation (>95%) is of more recent origin. The latter situation contrasts the observations of the major histocompatibility complex class II genes in rhesus and cynomolgus macaques, which share a high number of identical alleles (>30%) as defined by exon 2 sequencing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Genetics and Refinement, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, P.O. Box 3306, 2280 GH, Rijswijk, The Netherlands. otting@bprc.nl
authors.forename: Nel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Otting
authors.forename: Annemiek J M
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: de Vos-Rouweler
authors.forename: Corrine M C
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Heijmans
authors.forename: Natasja G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: Gaby G M
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Doxiadis
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Bontrop
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D005805:Genes, MHC Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007194:India; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000235:genetics*; D010375:Pedigree; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D015234:HLA-A Antigens