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MBE Advance Access published online on September 14, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msj016
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© The Author 2005. 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 August 31, 2005

Research Article

Evolution by Recombination and Trans-species Polymorphism in the MHC Class I Gene of Xenopus laevis

David H. Bos 1* and Bruce Waldman 2

1 Dept. of Forestry and Natural Resources, 715 W. State St., Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2033
2 School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
David H. Bos, E-mail: dbos{at}purdue.edu


  Abstract

The patterns of MHC evolution involve duplications, deletions, and independent divergence of loci during episodes punctuated by natural selection. Major differences in MHC evolution among taxa have previously been attributed to variation in linkage patterns of class I and class II MHC genes. Here we characterize patterns of evolution in the MHC class Ia gene of Xenopus laevis in terms of polymorphism, recombination and extent of trans-species polymorphism. We also compare these patterns to see if a correlation exists with linkage or separation of the MHC class I and class II regions as seen in amphibians and teleost fishes. In X. laevis, we find high levels of polymorphism. Also, genetic exchange is relatively frequent and occurs in intron II, reshuffling allelic forms of exons 2 and 3. Evolutionary relationships among class I alleles show an intermingling of alleles from divergent Xenopus species, rather than a species-specific clustering. Results indicate that the patterns of evolution are similar to that found in salmonid fishes and are different from the mode of evolution seen in primates. Similar patterns of class Ia evolution in salmonid fishes and X. laevis suggest that non-linkage of class I and class II regions alone is insufficient to explain some patterns of MHC evolution in salmonids.

Keywords: trans-species evolution; recombination; exon shuffling; Akaike Information; Criterion (AIC); Xenopus; MHC.
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