Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 15, 617-625, Copyright © 1998 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
T Sitnikova and C Su
The gene families encoding the immunoglobulin variable regions of heavy
(VH) and light (VL) chains in vertebrates are composed of many genes.
However, the gene number and the extent of diversity among VH and VL gene
copies vary with species. To examine the causes of this variation and the
evolutionary forces for these multigene families, we conducted a
phylogenetic analysis of VH and VL genes from the species of amniotes. The
results of our analysis showed that for each species, VH and VL genes have
the same pattern of clustering in the trees, and, according to this
clustering pattern, the species can be divided into two groups. In the
first group of species (humans and mice), VH and VL genes were extensively
intermingled with genes from other organisms; in the second group of
species (chickens, rabbits, cattle, sheep, swine, and horses), the genes
tended to form clusters within the same group of organisms. These results
suggest that the VH and VL multigene families have evolved in the same
fashion: they have undergone coordinated contraction and expansion of gene
repertoires such that each group of organisms is characterized by a certain
level of diversity of VH and VL genes. The extent of diversity among copies
of VH and VL genes in each species is related to the mechanism of
generation of antibody variety. In humans and mice, DNA rearrangement of
immunoglobulin variable, diversity, and joining-segment genes is a main
source of antibody diversity, whereas in chickens, rabbits, cattle, sheep,
swine, and horses, somatic hypermutation and somatic gene conversion play
important roles. The evolutionary pattern of VH and VL multigene families
is consistent with the birth-and-death model of evolution, yet different
levels of diversifying selection seem to operate in the VH and VL genes of
these two groups of species.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Coevolution of immunoglobulin heavy- and light-chain variable-region gene families
Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, Pennsylvania State University. tanya@imeg.bio.psu.edu
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