No evidence for disassortative mating based on HLA genotype in a natural fertility population.

ABSTRACT: Evidence for disassortative mating based on the human-specific MHC, i.e. HLA, is equivocal¹. Initial evidence for disassortative HLA-pairing in the European-descent Hutterites² has tended not to replicate in other populations. Recent studies, rather, reflect assortative mating associated with cosmopolitan population structure¹. Although their configuration is more relevant to the majority of human evolutionary history, few small-scale, endogamous populations have been examined. Here, we test whether the extent of HLA dissimilarity between individuals influences mate choice by contrasting chosen partnerships (both "love" marriages and informal partnerships) with arranged partnerships among the Himba, an endogamous and formerly natural fertility group living

SUBMITTER: Meeks GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12247893 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature