The Nature of Selection in the HLA Region Based on Population Data From the Ninth Workshop

Abstract

The HLA region is a model system for the study of multilocus interactions. There are several well-defined, tightly linked, highly polymorphic loci. The physiology of the gene products is relatively well understood, information is available on the history of past generations, including disease and migration patterns, and comparative studies (e.g., H-2 in mice) supply useful background data. With the Ninth Workshop we have the additional asset of pedigree data which permits the accurate scoring of haplotypes and the testing of selection components. Three separate approaches have been taken in the analysis of the population data from the Ninth Workshop: the level of homozygosity at each locus, an overall population measure of two-locus disequilibrium, and haplotype pattern analysis, which evaluates disequilibrium patterns to determine which haplotypes have been subject to selection.

This work was supported by the DFG Ba 660/5–1, and Al 92/13–2, West Germany; and by NIH Grant HD 12731 to G.T.