A novel recombinant HLA-B*39 allele (B*3910) in a South African Zulu.

The sequence of a new B39 allele has been identified in a South African Zulu individual. This allele designated B3910, differs at two nucleotide positions (246 and 272) from B39011. The difference at position 246 is silent, while that at position 272 results in an amino acid change from cysteine (B39011) to tyrosine (B3910). As these same differences are found in other HLA-B alleles, they were probably introduced into the B3910 sequence by a short gene conversion event with another allele. This finding provides further evidence for the diversification of HLA-B allelic sequences via recombination.