New recombinant HLA-B alleles in a tribe of South American Amerindians indicate rapid evolution of MHC class I loci

• Published in: Nature (London) 1992-05, Vol.357 (6376), p.329-333
• Main Authors: Watkins, David I, McAdam, Stephen N, Liu, Xiaomin, Strang, Clarice R, Milford, Edgar L, Levine, Cindy G, Garber, Theodore L, Dogon, Alex L, Lord, Carol I, Ghim, Steven H, Troup, Gary M, Hughes, Austin L, Letvin, Norman L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; B determinants; B loci; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; European Continental Ancestry Group - genetics; Evolution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic Variation; Genetics; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; histocompatibility antigen HLA; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I - genetics; histocompatibility locus HLA; HLA-A Antigens - genetics; HLA-B Antigens - chemistry; HLA-B Antigens - genetics; Human; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Indians, North American - genetics; Indians, South American - genetics; letter; man; Molecular Sequence Data; multidisciplinary; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Native North Americans; Population genetics, reproduction patterns; Recombination, Genetic; Science; Science & Technology; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Science (multidisciplinary); Selection, Genetic; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/357329a0

EVIDENCE suggests that the New World was colonized only 11,000–40,000 years ago by Palaeo-Indians 1 . The descendants of these Palaeo-Indians therefore provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of selection on major histocompatibility complex class I genes over a short period. Here we analyse the class I alleles of the Waorani of South America and the Zuni of North America. Four of the Waorani HLA-B alleles were new functional variants which could be accounted for by intralocus recombination. In contrast, all of the Zuni HLA-A and - B molecules were present in Caucasians and orientals. This suggests that the new Waorani HLA-B variants arose in South America. The description of four new HLA-B alleles in the Waorani and another five new HLA-B alleles from two other tribes of South American Amerindians 2 indicates that the HLA-B locus can evolve rapidly in isolated populations. These studies underline the importance of gathering genetic data on endangered native human populations 3 .