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MBE Advance Access published online on January 24, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msj099
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted January 17, 2006

Research Article

MHC class I genes in the tuatara (Sphenodon spp.): Evolution of the MHC in an ancient reptilian order

Hilary C. Miller 1 *, Katherine Belov 2, and Charles Daugherty 1

1 Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
2 Evolutionary Biology Unit, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW 2010 Australia; Present address: Centre for Advanced Technologies in Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Hilary C. Miller, E-mail: hilary.miller{at}vuw.ac.nz


  Abstract

The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is an extremely dynamic region of the genome, characterised by high polymorphism and frequent gene duplications and rearrangements. This has resulted in considerable differences in MHC organisation and evolution among vertebrate lineages, particularly between birds and mammals. As non-avian reptiles are ancestral to both mammals and birds, they occupy an important phylogenetic position for understanding these differences. However, little is known about reptile MHC genes. To address this, we have characterised MHC class I sequences from the tuatara (Sphenodon spp.), the last survivor of an ancient order of reptiles, Sphenodontia. We isolated two different class I cDNA sequences, which share 93% sequence similarity with each other but are highly divergent from other vertebrate MHC genes. Southern blotting and PCR amplification of class I sequences from seven adult tuatara plus a family group indicate that these sequences represent at least 2-3 loci. Preliminary analysis of variation among individuals from an island population of tuatara indicates these loci are highly polymorphic. Maximum likelihood analysis of reptile MHC class I sequences indicates gene duplication has occurred within reptilian orders. However, the evolutionary relationships among sequences from different reptilian orders cannot be resolved, reflecting the antiquity of the major reptile lineages.

Keywords: MHC Class I; reptile; Sphenodon; gene duplication; polymorphism.
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