Kikkawa Eri, Tanaka Masafumi, Naruse Taeko K, Tsuda Tomi T, Tsuda Michio, Murata Koichi, Kimura Akinori
College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Molecular Pathogenesis, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), Tokyo, Japan.
Immunogenetics. 2017 Feb;69(2):113-124. doi: 10.1007/s00251-016-0951-9. Epub 2016 Sep 21.
The major histocompatibility complex locus (MHC) is a gene region related to immune response and exhibits a remarkably great diversity. We deduced that polymorphisms in MHC genes would help to solve several issues on penguins, including classification, phylogenetic relationship, and conservation. This study aimed to elucidate the structure and diversity of the so far unknown MHC class I gene in a penguin species. The structure of an MHC class I gene from the Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) was determined by using an inverse PCR method. We designed PCR primers to directly determine nucleotide sequences of PCR products from the MHC class I gene and to obtain recombinant clones for investigating the diversity of the MHC class I gene in Humboldt penguins. A total of 24 MHC class I allele sequences were obtained from 40 individuals. Polymorphisms were mainly found in exons 2 and 3, as expected from the nature of MHC class I genes in vertebrate species including birds and mammals. Phylogenetic analyses of MHC class I alleles have revealed that the Humboldt penguin is closely related to the Red Knot (Calidris canutus) belonging to Charadriiformes.
主要组织相容性复合体基因座（MHC）是一个与免疫反应相关的基因区域，具有显著的多样性。我们推测，MHC基因的多态性将有助于解决企鹅的几个问题，包括分类、系统发育关系和保护。本研究旨在阐明一种企鹅物种中迄今未知的MHC I类基因的结构和多样性。通过反向PCR方法确定了洪堡企鹅（Spheniscus humboldti）MHC I类基因的结构。我们设计了PCR引物，以直接确定MHC I类基因PCR产物的核苷酸序列，并获得重组克隆，以研究洪堡企鹅MHC I类基因的多样性。从40个个体中总共获得了24个MHC I类等位基因序列。正如在包括鸟类和哺乳动物在内的脊椎动物物种中MHC I类基因的性质所预期的那样，多态性主要存在于外显子2和3中。MHC I类等位基因的系统发育分析表明，洪堡企鹅与鸻形目的红腹滨鹬（Calidris canutus）密切相关。
