The chicken B locus is a minimal essential major histocompatibility complex

Jim Kaufman (), Sarah Milne, Thomas W. F. Göbel, Brian A. Walker, Jansen P. Jacob, Charles Auffray, Rima Zoorob and Stephan Beck
Additional contact information
Jim Kaufman: Institute for Animal Health
Sarah Milne: The Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Thomas W. F. Göbel: Institute for Animal Physiology
Brian A. Walker: Institute for Animal Health
Jansen P. Jacob: Institute for Animal Health
Charles Auffray: CNRS, Genetique Moleculaire et Biologie du Developpement
Rima Zoorob: CNRS, Genetique Moleculaire et Biologie du Developpement
Stephan Beck: The Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus

Nature, 1999, vol. 401, issue 6756, 923-925

Abstract: Abstract Here we report the sequence of the region that determines rapid allograft rejection in chickens, the chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC). This 92-kilobase region of the B locus1,2,3,4 contains only 19 genes, making the chicken MHC roughly 20-fold smaller than the human MHC5. Virtually all the genes have counterparts in the human MHC, defining a minimal essential set of MHC genes conserved over 200 million years of divergence between birds and mammals. They are organized differently, with the class III region genes located outside the class II and class I region genes. The absence of proteasome genes5,6 is unexpected and might explain unusual peptide-binding specificities of chicken class I molecules. The presence of putative natural killer receptor gene(s)5,7 is unprecedented and might explain the importance of the B locus in the response to the herpes virus responsible for Marek's disease8,9,10. The small size and simplicity of the chicken MHC allows co-evolution of genes as haplotypes over considerable periods of time, and makes it possible to study the striking MHC-determined pathogen-specific disease resistance8,9,10 at the molecular level.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/44856

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