title: Polymorphism and Balancing Selection of MHC Class II DAB Gene in 7 Selective Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) Families.
abstract: In order to determine the genetic variation of the MHC class IIB exon2 allele in the offspring, 700 fry from seven families of Japanese flounder challenged with V. anguillarum were studied, and different mortality rates were found in those families. Five to ten surviving and dead fry from each of the seven families were selected to study the MHC class II B exon2 gene with PCR and a direct sequencing method. One hundred and sixteen different exon2 sequences were found and 116 different alleles were identified, while a minimum of four loci were revealed in the MHC class II B exon2 gene. The ratio (d(N)/d(S)) of nonsynonymous substitution (d(N)) to synonymous substitutions (d(S)) in the peptide-binding region (PBR) of the MHC class IIB gene was 6.234, which indicated that balancing selection is acting on the MHC class IIB genes. The MHC IIB alleles were thus being passed on to their progeny. Some alleles were significantly more frequent in surviving than dead individuals. All together our data suggested that the alleles Paol-DAB*4301, Paol-DAB*4601, Paol-DAB*4302, Paol-DAB*3803, and Paol-DAB*4101 were associated with resistance to V. anguillarum in flounder.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab for Sustainable Utilization of Marine Fisheries Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Nanjing Road 106, Qingdao 266071, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Song-Lin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng-Tao
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao-Lin
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Liao