Journal
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EVOLUTION
Volume 72, Issue 5-6, Pages 474-483Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00239-011-9446-3
Keywords
MHC II B gene; Ardeid birds; Trans-species polymorphism; Concerted evolution; Genetic exchange
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [30970380, 40876077]
- Fujian Natural Science Foundation of China [2009J01195, 2008S0007]
- Program for Innovative Research Team in Science and Technology in Fujian Province University
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Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a multi-gene family that is very suitable to investigate a wide range of open questions in evolutionary ecology. In this study, we characterized two expressed MHC class II B genes (DAB1 and DAB2) in the Grey Heron (Aves: Ardea cinerea). We further developed the primer pairs to amplify and sequence two MHC class II B loci in ten ardeid birds. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that different parts of the genes showed different evolutionary patterns. The exon 2 sequences tended to cluster two gene-specific lineages. In each lineage, exon 2 sequences from several species showed closer relationships than sequences within species, and two shared identical alleles were found between species (Egretta sacra and Nycticorax nycticorax; Egretta garzetta and Bubulcus ibis), supporting the hypothesis of trans-species polymorphism. In contrast, the species-specific intron 2 plus partial exon 3 tree suggested that DAB1 and DAB2 were subject to concerted evolution. GENECONV analyses showed the gene exchange played an important role in the ardeid MHC evolution.
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