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Support for the minimal essential MHC hypothesis: a parrot with a single, highly polymorphic MHC class II B gene

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Abstract

We characterized the MHC class II B gene in the green-rumped parrotlet, Forpus passerinus. Three approaches were used: polymerase chain reaction amplification using primers complementary to conserved regions of exon 2, sequencing clones from a genomic library, and amplification of exon 2 using species-specific primers. All three methods indicate that there is only a single class II B locus in this species and no pseudogenes. We suggest that this is the ancestral state for birds. The gene is highly polymorphic; 33 alleles were found in a sample of 25 individuals. Variation in exon 2 is concentrated in the peptide binding residues which show a significant excess of non-synonymous substitutions consistent with the operation of selection in maintaining this extraordinary polymorphism. Genomic clones show that major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene organization is different from that of chickens; the class II A locus is close to II B. These data provide support for the hypothesis that the bird MHC constitutes a “minimal essential MHC” for responding to infectious disease.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Michael C. Schmale helped with the radioactive probing of the lambda library. Dr. Dean A. Williams developed the method for side-stepping plasmid minipreps and made many other contributions to the lab work. Faizan Kamdar, Fatima Tariq, Amanda Ramnauth, Nina Swadener, and Gina Landinez helped in the lab. We thank Dr. Jay Baldwin for access to his genetic analyzer. We are very grateful to Dr. S. Beissinger for developing the study system from which the blood samples were taken. Two anonymous reviewers provided very helpful suggestions. This work was done in accordance with the laws of the United States.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, 2912 College Ave., Davie, FL, 33314, USA

    Colin R. Hughes & Jaclyn M. Walbroehl

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Shana Miles

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Correspondence to Colin R. Hughes.

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Hughes, C.R., Miles, S. & Walbroehl, J.M. Support for the minimal essential MHC hypothesis: a parrot with a single, highly polymorphic MHC class II B gene. Immunogenetics 60, 219–231 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-008-0287-1

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