Sequencing of VDJ genes in Lepus americanus confirms a correlation between VHn expression and the leporid species continent of origin

• Published in: Molecular immunology 2019-08, Vol.112, p.182-187
• Main Authors: Pinheiro, Ana, de Sousa-Pereira, Patricia, Almeida, Tereza, Ferreira, Catarina C., Otis, Josée-Anne, Boudreau, Melanie R., Seguin, Jacob L., Lanning, Dennis K., Esteves, Pedro J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive selection; IGHV; Leporids; Lepus americanus
• ISSN: 0161-5890; 1872-9142
• DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2019.05.008

•Leporid antibodies VH genes exhibit highly divergent lineages.•These VH lineages, VHa, VHn, sL and sS, are differently used by leporid species.•The VHn genes are a conserved ancestral polymorphism.•The VHn are used differentially by European leporids and American leporids.•The differential usage of VHn may be related with adaptation to different pathogens. Leporid VH genes used in the generation of their primary antibody repertoire exhibit highly divergent lineages. For the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) four VHa lineages have been described, the a1, a2, a3 and a4. Hares (Lepus spp.) and cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) express one VHa lineage each, the a2L and the a5, respectively, along with a more ancient lineage, the Lepus spp. sL and S. floridanus sS. Both the European rabbit and the Lepus europaeus use a third lineage, VHn, in a low proportion of their VDJ rearrangements. The VHn genes are a conserved ancestral polymorphism that is being maintained in the leporid genome.Their usage in a low proportion of VDJ rearrangements by both European rabbit and L. europaeus but not S. floridanus has been argued to be a remnant of an ancient European leporid immunologic response to pathogens. To address this hypothesis, in this study we sequenced VDJ rearranged genes for another North American leporid, L. americanus. Our results show that L. americanus expressed these genes less frequently and in a highly modified fashion compared to the European Lepus species. Our results suggest that the American leporid species use a different VH repertoire than the European species which may be related with an immune adaptation to different environmental conditions, such as different pathogenic agents.