Marsupials and monotremes possess a novel family of MHC class I genes that is lost from the eutherian lineage.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes are found in the genomes of all jawed vertebrates. The evolution of this gene family is closely tied to the evolution of the vertebrate genome. Family members are frequently found in four paralogous regions, which were formed in two rounds of genome duplication in the early vertebrates, but in some species class Is have been subject to additional duplication or translocation, creating additional clusters. The gene family is traditionally grouped into two subtypes: classical MHC class I genes that are usually MHC-linked, highly polymorphic, expressed in a broad range of tissues and present endogenously-derived peptides to cytotoxic T-cells; and non-classical MHC class I genes generally have lower polymorphism, may have

SUBMITTER: Papenfuss AT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4509613 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature