New evidence fortrans-species evolution of theH-2 class I polymorphism

Abstract

A serological survey using alloantisera specific for the H-2 class I antigens in Japanese wild mice. Mus musculus molossinus, revealed a high frequency of the H-2Kf antigen. This antigen has also been found in European wild mice, M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. In this survey, the H-2Kf antigen was characterized through the use of ten newly isolated monoclonal antibodies raised against cells of a Japanese wild mouse, and by Southern blot analysis using an H-2K locus-specific probe which hybridizes with the 3' end of the gene. The serologically identified H-2Kf antigens revealed several minor variations in reactivities to the monoclonal antibodies. However, all the antigens examined could be clearly separated into two types with respect to the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern. The first type, found together with a single, characteristic RFLP pattern, was always associated with the presence of reactivity to one particular monoclonal antibody MS54. The second type, found to represent different RFLP patterns, is associated with the absence of reactivity to MS54. This concordance between the presence of an antigenic determinant and a particular RFLP was observed not only within Mus musculus subspecies but also in a different species: M. spretus, carrying the same antigenic determinant, gave an identical RFLP to that of the other MS54-positive Mus musculus subspecies. The data suggest that the antigenic determinant specific for MS54 is an ancient polymorphic structure which has survived the long period of diversification of Mus species (approximately 2-3 million years) without alteration, and is associated with a stable DNA structure at the 3' end of the H-2K gene.

Evolution of the Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex Alleles in Higher Primates

“…Since such a /ra/i5-species mode of evolution enables individual MHC aileles to accumulate mutations beyond the lifespan of a species, they should be able to diverge significantly from each other without the help of high mutation rates or special genetic mechanisms (such as gene conversion) that could accelerate the diversification of alleles. Evidence supporting the trans-species mode of MHC evolution has been obtained by several groups of investigators including our own (Arden & Klein 1982, Figueroa et al 1985, McConnell et al 1988, Mayer et al 1988, Lawlor et al 1988, Sagai et al 1989, Fan et al 1989).…”

Mouse subspecies differentiation and H-2 polymorphism

“…Wild (Sagai et al, 1986(Sagai et al, , 1989. The MS series monoclonal antibodies are designated MS-52, -53, -54, -55, -56, -59, -60, -61, -62, -68 and -69; each exhibited quite high specificity to the H-2 f-haplotype.…”

“…The cDNA probe, pH8D, employed for RFLP analysis of H-2K gene was kindly provided by Dr G. Jay of the National Cancer Institute, NIH. Genomic DNA isolated from liver was subjected to RFLP analysis after digestion with three kinds of restriction enzymes; BglII, PstI amd XbaI (see Sagai et al, 1989 for experimental details).…”

Variation and evolution of Class I Mhc in sexual and parthenogenetic geckos

“…In a variety of mammalian taxa Mhc alleles have been found to be conserved across species implying that these Mhc alleles are very old (Klein 1987;Figueroa al. 1988;Mayer et al 1988;Sagai et 1989;Lawlor et al 1990). Theoretical (Takahata et al 1990) and statistical (Hughes et al 1994) studies indicate that transspecihc polymorphism can be maintained from common ancestry for up to 40 million years.…”