Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon?
Immunity exhibits extraordinarily high levels of variation. Evolution of the immune system in response to host-pathogen interactions in particular ecological contexts appears to be frequently associated with diversifying selection increasing the genetic variability. Many studies have documented that...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2015-01-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Immunology Research |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/838035 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850160529952210944 |
|---|---|
| author | Martin Těšický Michal Vinkler |
| author_facet | Martin Těšický Michal Vinkler |
| author_sort | Martin Těšický |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Immunity exhibits extraordinarily high levels of variation. Evolution of the immune system in response to host-pathogen interactions in particular ecological contexts appears to be frequently associated with diversifying selection increasing the genetic variability. Many studies have documented that immunologically relevant polymorphism observed today may be tens of millions years old and may predate the emergence of present species. This pattern can be explained by the concept of trans-species polymorphism (TSP) predicting the maintenance and sharing of favourable functionally important alleles of immune-related genes between species due to ongoing balancing selection. Despite the generality of this concept explaining the long-lasting adaptive variation inherited from ancestors, current research in TSP has vastly focused only on major histocompatibility complex (MHC). In this review we summarise the evidence available on TSP in human and animal immune genes to reveal that TSP is not a MHC-specific evolutionary pattern. Further research should clearly pay more attention to the investigation of TSP in innate immune genes and especially pattern recognition receptors which are promising candidates for this type of evolution. More effort should also be made to distinguish TSP from convergent evolution and adaptive introgression. Identification of balanced TSP variants may represent an accurate approach in evolutionary medicine to recognise disease-resistance alleles. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b6725de6cb9e4f869a6b6ce4a0101b7a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2314-8861 2314-7156 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Immunology Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-b6725de6cb9e4f869a6b6ce4a0101b7a2025-08-20T02:23:08ZengWileyJournal of Immunology Research2314-88612314-71562015-01-01201510.1155/2015/838035838035Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon?Martin Těšický0Michal Vinkler1Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha, Czech RepublicCharles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha, Czech RepublicImmunity exhibits extraordinarily high levels of variation. Evolution of the immune system in response to host-pathogen interactions in particular ecological contexts appears to be frequently associated with diversifying selection increasing the genetic variability. Many studies have documented that immunologically relevant polymorphism observed today may be tens of millions years old and may predate the emergence of present species. This pattern can be explained by the concept of trans-species polymorphism (TSP) predicting the maintenance and sharing of favourable functionally important alleles of immune-related genes between species due to ongoing balancing selection. Despite the generality of this concept explaining the long-lasting adaptive variation inherited from ancestors, current research in TSP has vastly focused only on major histocompatibility complex (MHC). In this review we summarise the evidence available on TSP in human and animal immune genes to reveal that TSP is not a MHC-specific evolutionary pattern. Further research should clearly pay more attention to the investigation of TSP in innate immune genes and especially pattern recognition receptors which are promising candidates for this type of evolution. More effort should also be made to distinguish TSP from convergent evolution and adaptive introgression. Identification of balanced TSP variants may represent an accurate approach in evolutionary medicine to recognise disease-resistance alleles.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/838035 |
| spellingShingle | Martin Těšický Michal Vinkler Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? Journal of Immunology Research |
| title | Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? |
| title_full | Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? |
| title_fullStr | Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? |
| title_short | Trans-Species Polymorphism in Immune Genes: General Pattern or MHC-Restricted Phenomenon? |
| title_sort | trans species polymorphism in immune genes general pattern or mhc restricted phenomenon |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/838035 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT martintesicky transspeciespolymorphisminimmunegenesgeneralpatternormhcrestrictedphenomenon AT michalvinkler transspeciespolymorphisminimmunegenesgeneralpatternormhcrestrictedphenomenon |